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21 


years 


of  service  to 


nu  mis  matics 


Volume  19  Number  8 ISSN:  0197-3088  Price  ....  One  Dollar 


FEATURES 

An  Introduction  to  Byzantine  Coinage,  by  T.  C.  G.  Campbell  — 238 
The  Collecting  of  Constantinian  Bronze, 

by  Dr.  Clarence  R.  Thayer 229 

Iconography  of  Ancient  Greek  Coinage  (A  brief  introduction), 

by  Ian  M.  Patrick 249 

THE  PASCO  MINT:  The  Eight  Reales  of  1836, 

by  Horace  P.  Platt 242 

Uniedaalders : Much  History,  Less  Coin,  by  Peter  Kraneveld  — 244 

INSIDE  N.I. 

Donations  Report  227 

Librarian's  Report  227 

Membership  Chairman's  Report  227 

DEPARTMENTS 

Book  Reviews  253 

Contents  of  the  NI  Reference  Collection  252 

From  the  Mailbox 256 

INFORMATION,  Please  - Replies  245 

Member  Notice  Page 256 

OTHER  ITEMS 

Algeria,  Undated  5 Centime  Piece,  by  John  DeMarais  251 

An  Anti  nous  Look-Alike,  by  Larry  Devine  246 

A Coin  of  Smpad  the  Usurper,  by  Robert  R.  Kutcher 248 

Did  You  Know?,  by  Don  Etzel 243 

The  First  Roman  Emperor  247 

Gold  Coinage 247 

Marcus  Didius  Julianus,  by  Robert  R.  Kutcher  241 

Obituary:  JOHN  HUNTER,  Life  Member  No.  1 228 

Poland,  New  Regular  Types,  1984,  by  John  DeMarais  241 

Turkey,  50  and  100  Lira  Regular  Types,  by  John  DeMarais  247 


Copyrighted  by  Numismatics  International,  P.O.  Box  670013,  Dallas,  Texas,  USA  75367-0013 


AUGUST  1985 


BOARD  OF  GOVERNORS 
PHILIP  L.  LAWRENCE 
Chairman  & Past-President 
Phone  - 214-690-9678 

WM.  B.  THOMPSON 
President 


C.C.  ANDREWS 
Vice-President 


ROSS  SCHRAEDER 
Secretary 

DON  C.  DOUGLAS 
At-Large  Director 

WILLIAM  E.  BENSON 
MARVIN  L.  FRALEY 
ELMORE  B.  SCOTT 
CARL  YOUNG 


CHARLES  MUCHMORE 
Treasurer 

ROBERT  W.  RICHTER 
At-Large  Director 

KARY  T.  EDWARDS 
JACK  E.  LEWIS 
JOHN  E.  VANDIGRIFF 


Past-Presidents 


APPOINTED  STAFF 


Curator,  Nl  REFERENCE  COLLECTION 
Philip  L.  Lawrence 

Curator,  JOHN  GRAVES  MEMORIAL 

PAPER  MONEY  COLLECTION 
David  Block 
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Editor,  Nl  BULLETIN 
Marvin  L.  Fraley,  N.L.G. 

2813  - 57th  St. 

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Fred  Drost,  N.L.G. 

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Book  News  & Reviews  Editor, 

Nl  BULLETIN 
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Phone  - 301-530-5400 


Librarian,  Nl  BOOK  LIBRARY 
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Moderator,  N.l.  EDUCATIONAL  PROGRAM 
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Correspondence  should  be  directed  to  those  persons  and  addresses  above  for  depart- 
ments indicated.  All  other  correspondence  should  be  mailed  direct  to  NUMISMATICS 
INTERNATIONAL,  P.  O.  Box  670013,  DALLAS,  TX  75367-0013 

MEMBERSHIP  FEE:  Individual  & Club  Membership  - $10.00  Annually.  Junior  Member- 

ship ( 1 8 years  of  age  and  under)  - $7.00  Annually.  Senior  Membership  (70  years  of  age  and 
over)  - $7.00  Annually. 


226 


INSIDE  N.l. 

ME M BJ RSHIP  CHAIRMAN'S  REPORT 

August  1985  Applications  for  Membership:  The  following  persons  have  ap- 

plied for  membership.  If  no  written  objections  are  received  by  October 
1,  1985,  their  membership  will  become  effective  on  that  date. 

2127  Barry  D.  layman,  5424  Smooth  Meadow  Way,  Columbia,  Md.  21044 


DONATIONS  REPORT 

We  wish  to  acknowledge  the  following  donation  received  since  the  last 
report: 

Name  Type  of  Donation  Preference  of  Use 

BLANTON,  Herman  1 Token  (NVS)  NI  Reference  Collection 

NVS  = No  Value  Stated  by  donor. 


LIBRARIAN'S  REPORT 

I.  Acknowledgement  is  made  below  to  those  who  have  donated  material  to 

the  NI  Library. 

William  E.  Benson 

KAGIN,  DONALD  H.  Private  gold  coins  and  patterns  of  the  United  States. 

Pub.  1981  , 406pp,  i 1 1 us . 

John  Hunter 

FRIEDBERG,  ARTHUR  and  IRA.  R.  S.  Yeoman's  A catalog  of  modern  world 
coins  1850-1964.  13th  ed.,  pub.  1984,  507pp.,  ill  us . It  has  been 
six  years  since  the  last  issue  of  the  "Brown  Book"  was  printed  and 
as  a type  collector  I despaired  of  every  seeing  one  again,  but 
thanks  to  Arthur  and  Ira  Friedberg  (notable  numismatic  authors  in 
their  own  right)  those  of  us  who  collect  only  one  of  a kind  can 
wander  through  the  bourse  tables  with  our  little  book  tucked  under- 
neath our  arm  badgering  the  dealers  for  that  cheap  date  that  we 
know  exists  because  Yeoman  said  it  did. 

KAIM,  REINHOLD.  Russische  munzstatten 3 munzzeichen , munzmeister- 
zeichen.  Pub.  1971,  56pp,  w/drawings. 

John  L.  Pieratt 

LE  MAY,  REGINALD/KNEEDLER,  W.  HARDING/GUEHLER , U./RAMSDEN,  H.A. 

Siamese  Coins  and  Tokens.  Pub.  1977,  389pp.,  w/plates.  An  anth- 
ology of  three  works,  Coinage  of  Siam3  by  Le  May;  Studies  of  Old 
Siamese  Coins 3 by  Kneedler  and  Guehler;  and  Siamese  Porcelain  and 
other  Tokens 3 by  Ramsden. 


227 


II.  In  addition  to  the  above  we  would  also  like  to  thank  Win  Haskell, 
Donald  Kleckner  and  David  Kwapisz  for  their  donations  of  numismatic 
material  to  the  Library. 

III.  As  a general  rule  we  do  not  list  gifts  of  books  relating  to  United 

States  coinage  unless  (as  in  the  case  of  the  book  mentioned  above)  the 
subject  refers  to  other  than  modern  coinage.  We  are  a foreign  coin 
society  and  thus  our  interest  is  to  other  than  U.S.  coins.  We  would,  ’ 

however,  like  to  remind  our  members  that  we  do  accept  and  loan  out  books 
related  to  U.S.  coins  and  that  our  Library  does  have  a very  good  cover- 
age of  this  area,  both  in  tokens,  medals  and  coins. 

IV.  Having  stated  the  above  on  U.S.  coins,  we  would  like  to  beg  a 
donation  from  one  of  our  members.  In  1979-80-81  Bowers  & Ruddy  sold 
the  Garrett  Collection.  Along  with  the  four  catalogs  which  we  have 
there  was  printed  by  Mr.  Bowers  a related  book  called  The  History  of 
United  States  Coinage  as  Illustrated  by  the  Garrett  Collection.  We 
would  like  to  have  a copy  of  this  book  to  place  with  the  four  catalogs 
as  a single  reference.  We  have  tried  to  beg  one  from  Bowers  and  Merena 
Galleries  but  they  want  to  sell  and  we  do  not  as  a rule  spend  money 

in  buying  U.S.  material.  So,  if  there  is  a member  out  there  who  has 
an  extra  copy  of  the  above  we  would  certainly  like  to  have  it  for  the 
Library. 

Further,  we  would  like  to  have  a copy  of  the  latest  Clain-Stefanel li 
Numismatic  Bibliography.  It  has  received  excellent  reviews  and  the 
Library  would  like  to  have  at  least  one  and  preferably  two  for  its  use. 

Can  anyone  help? 

Granvyl  G.  Hulse,  Jr.  I 

NI  Librarian 


************************************************* 


******************* 


JOHN  HUNTER-,  Life  Member  No.  1 

John  Hunter  of  Hillsboro,  New  Hampshire,  a member  of  NI  since 
August  1968,  died  on  Sunday,  June  30,  1985. 

In  all  the  21  year  history  of  NI  we  don't  know  of  any  other 
dealer  member  who  has  been  more  supportive  of  the  organization. 
Having  joined  us  in  August,  1968  as  member  no.  267,  he  became 
the  first  regular  life  member  in  June,  1975  when  NI  first  ac- 
cepted regular  life  memberships. 

One  of  John's  specialties  was  working  want  lists  for  members 
and  clients.  Many  of  us  were  overjoyed  when  shortly  after  his 
returning  from  a buying  trip,  many  times  in  Europe,  we  would 
receive  a parcel  of  items  he  had  searched  out  from  our  want 
lists. 

John  served  up  until  his  death  as  Dealer  Relations  Chairman 
for  N.I.C.E.,  starting  with  the  first  Exposition  in  1979. 

We  will  miss  seeing  his  smiling  face  at  the  first  table  inside 
the  door  at  N.I.C.E.  each  year. 


228 


THE  COLLECTING  OF 
CONSTANTINIAN  BRONZE 

Dr.  Clarence  R.  Thayer , Irwin,  Pennsylvania , U$A 


In  this  work , Professor  C.R.  Thayer  shares  his  experience  on  the  spe- 
cilization  of  Constantinian  bronze.  His  conments  on  specialization  not 
only  pertain  to  Constantinian  bronze , but  to  many  other  areas  of  col- 
lecting as  well.  It  is  in  specialization.  Dr.  Thayer  writes,  that  un- 
edited specimens  may  come  to  light  and  these  coins  may  help  to  refine 
our  chronlolgy  and  understanding  of  the  ancient  world.  Readers  who  are 
particularly  interested  in  Constantinian  coins  will  find  a short  biblio- 
graphy at  the  end  of  this  paper  also  interesting . 


This  author  confesses  that  he  has  been,  and  yet  is,  a casual  accumulator 
of  modern  American  coins  and  that  his  partial  emancipation  from  this 
treadmill  came  quite  by  accident.  I was  attending  a bourse  in  Florida 
where  one  dealer  was  conducting  what  he  called  an  hourly  auction.  A bid- 
der wrote  down  his  offer  and  if  this  bid  was  not  exceeded,  the  coin  was 
his  at  the  full  hour.  I ventured  a bid  of  fifteen  cents  for  an  ancient 
coin  and  soon  it  was  mine.  There  was  no  identification  of  the  piece,  the 
inscription  was  far  from  clear  and  the  figures  on  the  reverse  were  sha- 
dowy and  crude.  It  was  found  after  searching  the  reference  books  at  the 
University  of  Florida  that  the  coin  was  a GLORIA  EXERCITUS  bronze,  a 
Constantinian  coin  generally  considered  quite  common.-  More  coins  were 
obtained  by  mail;  and,  with  the  innocence  of  a novitiate,  I decided  to 
collect  all  the  coins  of  Constantine  the  Great  (A.D.  307-337),  and  his 
sons  Constantine  II,  Constantius  II  and  Constans.  But  the  hundreds  of 
their  issues  in  LATE  ROMAN  BRONZE  COINAGE  by  Carson,  Hill  and  Kent  and 
the  further  hundreds  in  ROMAN  IMPERIAL  COINAGE,  volume  VII,  pointed  out 
the  desirability  of  narrowing  my  field  of  interest.  By  this  time,  I had 
also  discovered  that  Constantine  the  Great  had  had  a fourth  son , Crispus , 
who,  unlike  his  brothers,  never  made  it  to  the  post  of  augustus  because 
of  the  machinations  of  his  stepmother.  The  collecting  of  his  coins  -- 
Crispi  they  are  called  — proved  a real  challenge.  Though  far  from 
plentiful,  they  were  available  at  prices  which  did  not  reflect  their 
true  scarcity  and  I was  able  to  pick  up  some  seventy  specimens. 

Perhaps  by  now,  this  personal  history  serves  to  point  out  what  most 
readers  know  already;  namely,  that  the  field  of  Constantinian  bronze  is 
a very  broad  one.  RIC  and  CBK,  only  partially  overlapping  each  other, 
recognize  about  3,000  varieties  each  and  if  officinae , submints  or  work- 
shops, are  counted  as  legitimate  subvarieties,  there  are  well  in  excess 
of  ten  thousand  subvarieties  to  say  nothing  of  new  subvarieties,  which 
one  may  discover.  There  are  also  hundreds  of  other  varieties  in  volume 
VI  of  RIC  and  more  will  appear  when  the  long-awaited  Volume  VIII  appears. 


229 


One  can  reduce  this  number,  however,  if  one  chooses  to  exclude  the  coins 
of  co-emperor  Licinius  I (A. D.  308-324),  his  son  Licinius  II  and  Delmatius 
(A.D.  335-337)  and  confines  oneself  to  Constantine  the  Great  and  his  four 
sons.  But  even  at  that,  the  task  remains  a mammoth  one.  It  is  not  strict 
ly  a matter  of  cost,  although  that  might  be  prohibitive  for  most  of  us; 
it  is  a matter  of  availability.  While  some  large  dealers  in  U.S.  coinage 
claim' ninety  per  cent  completion  in  their  stock',  it  is  doubtful  if  any 
ancient  coin  dealer  would  claim  any  more  than  twenty  per  cent  completion 
in  Constantinian  bronze,  or  for  that  matter,  in  any  other  segment  of 
ancient,  mediaeval  or  oriental  coinage.  To  stock  both  Greek' and  Roman 
coins  of  ever  period,  type  and  condition  would  be  impossible,  not  only  be- 
cause of  the  capital  required,  but  because  a substantial  number  of  these 
coins  are  very  rare  and  unavailable.  Nevertheless,  a collector  can  still 
find  some  rare  coins  because  few  dealers  can  attribute  all  their  coins  and 
therefore  overlook  such  things  as  rare  mints,  offici-nae , bust  types,  epi- 
graphi cal  variations  and  field  marks,  and  are  content  to  grade  and  price 
their  coins  according  to  Sear,  whose  values  are  generally  based  on  the 
common  varieties. 2 Here  is  where  knowledge,  a sharp  eye,  and  experience 
in  the  specialized  field  can  pay  off  handsomely. 

Of  course,  there  is  no  law  against  unspecialized  collecting  of  Constan- 
tinian coins,  Roman  coins  or  any  other  kind  of  coins.  But  there  are 
several  good  reasons  to  specialize.  For  one  thing,  the  specialist  can 
purchase  coins  to  better  advantage.  His  knowledge  of  a given  period, 
type  and  ruler  enables  him  to  spot  either  a bargain,  or  conversely,  an 
overpriced  coin.  And  when  the  time  comes  to  sell  he  has  interest!' nq, 
and  perhaps  otherwise  unavailable  exhibition  pieces  instead  of  a lot  of 
coins  to  sell  by  weight.  Meanwhile,  he  has  something  interesting  to  in- 
form collectors  in  either  formal  exhibitions  or  informal  contacts;  he 
becomes  interested  in  the  rulers,  cities,  or  events  connected  with  Roman 
history;  he  can  spend  pleasant  hours  in  attributing,  sorting,  grading, 
and  mounting  his  purchases.  And  even  though  he  may  not  have  a formal 
education  in  classics  or  history,  he  can  add  to  human  knowledge  by  the 
discovery  of  new  subvarieties,  and  at  times  this  knowledge  has  important 
ramifications.  All  in  all,  there  is  much  to  be  said  for  specialization 
of  some  sort  whether  one  views  it  from  the  economic,  aesthetic,  or 
pleasure  standpoint. 

The  author  wishes  to  suggest,  somewhat  arbitrarily,  seven  ways  to  spe- 
cialize in  this  broad  field  of  Constantinian  coinage.  As  a matter  of 
fact,  these  same  approaches  can  be  used  in  almost  any  area  of  coin  col- 
lecting. 

1)  One  may  collect  Constantinian  bronze  by  rulers.  Those  who  collect 
early  imperial-  coins  often,  if  not  always,  try  to  show  a piece  for 
each  of  the  twelve  caesars. 3 Collectors  of  the  whole  sweep  of 
Roman  coinage  or  even  that  of  the  empire  only  may  have  to  settle 
for  one  attractive  coin  of  each  emperor  or  caesar  of  the  period. 

For  the  Constantinian  period,  that  would  call  for  coins  of  six 
emperors  and  two  caesars  (Crispus  and  Delmatius).  He  could  expand 
by  adding  six  more  coins  showing  each  emperor  in  his  days  as  caesar. 
He  could  even  add  the  three  imperial  ladies  honoured  on  coins;  Helena 
Fausta  and  Constantia.^  And  by  not  too  great  a stretch  of  the  imag- 
ination, he  could  add  the  two  female  personifications,  Roma  and 
Constantinopolis.  Even  if  he  added  Constantine  the  Great's  father, 
Constantius  Chlorus  (A.D.  305-306),  he  would  have  only  a score  of 


230 


coins  and  this  would  hardly  qualify  as  a specialized  showing  of  the  Con- 
stantinian  bronze,  even  though  it  might  be  considered  a good  start.  If 
the  collector  attempted  to  show  each  ruler  through  each  mint  and  type  in 
which  his  coins  were  issued,  he  would  then  have  both  an  interesting  goal 
and  a wel 1 -integrated  collection  for  display.  We  might  speak  of  this  as 
an  extensive  type  of  specialization. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  more  interesting  to  specialize  in  the  coins  of  one 
or  two  rulers.  The  three  imperial  ladies  just  mentioned  appeared  in  so 
very  few  ;ypes  and  from  so  few  mints  that  they  do  not  offer  much  of  a 
challenge.  But  the  personifications,  Roma  and  Constantinopolis,  are  a 
different  matter.  They  offer  enough  variety  of  officinae , mints,  and 
field  marks  to  satisfy  most  seekers  and  many  of  these  coins  are  reason- 
ably scarce,  although  strangely  not  correspondingly  expensive.  The  re- 
verse of  these  bronze  usually  show  the  twin  founding  fathers  of  Rome, 
Romulus  and  Remus,  suckling  their  adopted  wolf  mother.  This  makes  an 
interesti nq  subject  of  conversation. 


The  plate  Illustrates  a number  of  Constantinian  bronze.  Coin  no.  1 


231 


is  a follis  of  Constantius  Chlorus  (Augustus , A.D.  305-6 , the  father 
of  Constantine  the  Great.  The  reverse  shows  Genius  standing  and 
holding  a oomucopiae ; the  legend  reads  GENIO  POPULI  ROMANI : to  the 
Genius  of  the  Roman  people.  Coin  no.  2 is  an  AE3  of  Helena3  the 
mother  of  Constantine  the  Great.  The  reverse  shows  the  empress 
standing  and  holding  a branch  in  her  left  hand;  the  inscription 
reads  SECURITAS  REIPUBLIC(A)E : the  safety  of  the  republic.  Coin 
no.  3 is  an  AE3  of  Constantine  the  Great  who  ruled  as  Augustus  from 
307  to  337.  The  reverse  shows  Sol  standing  and  holding  an  orb. 

Coins  no.  4 and  5 are  AE3s  of  Crispus  who  was  Caesar  from  317  to 
326.  The  reverse  of  no.  4 reads  CAESARUM  NOSTRORUM:  of  our  Caesars; 
while  the  reverse  of  no.  5 reads  VIRTUS  EXERCIT(U)S:  the  courage  of 
the  army.  Coin  no.  6 is  an  AE3  of  Constantine  II  (Augustus  337-340) 3 
the  eldest  son  of  Constantine  I and  Fausta;  the  reverse  reads  BEAT(A) 
TRANQ(UIL) LITAS : the  blessed  calm;  while  the  mintmark3  P(ECUNIA  LON- 
(DINIl),  appears  below  the  altar.  Coin  no.  7 is  a Centenionalis  of 
Constantius  II  (Augustus  337-361) 3 another  son  of  Constantine  the 
Great.  This  coin  is  from  the  mint  of  ALE(XANDRIA) . 

Any  one  of  the  males  could  be  chosen  for  intensive  collecting  although 
the  number  of  varieties  for  each  is  somewhat  extensive.  One  could,  of 
course,  limit  oneself  to  one  of  them  either  as  caesar  or  as  augustus; 
one  could  try  to  gather  for  his  particular  ruler  a specimen  of  each 
type  and  from  each  mint,  or  one  could  try  for  all  the  officinae , mint 
marks  and  field  marks  (dots,  curlicues  and  stars)  on  the  reverses  and 
various  weapons,  jewellery,  headress  and  bust  types  on  the  obverses; 
and  this  is  to  say  nothing  of  various  inscriptions  and  epigraphical 
breaks  on  either  side  of  the  coin.  Sometimes,  for  example,  the  legend 
is  glor-ia  exercitus  and  sometimes  it  is  glori-a  ex(ercitus).  To  some 
extent,  Crispus  might  be  an  exception  to  the  general  rule  (see  plate 
above,  coins  no.  4 & 5).  Because  of  his  untimely  death,  fewer  coins 
bear  his  bust  than  carry  the  busts  of  his  father  or  his  brothers.  Nor 
were  the  Crispi  apparently  issued  in  large  quantities  either,  because 
about  ninety  per  cent  of  them  are  listed  by  Sutherland  and  Carson  as 
scarce  or  very  scarce.2 * * 5  Therefore  a dealer's  stock  of  Crispi  is  likely 
to  contain  a really  scarce  piece.  This  author  counts  22  separate  types 
with  Crispus  busts  on  seventy-four  coins  if  one  counts  each  type  for 
all  known  mints.  Other  markings,  as  enumerated  above,  push  this  figure 
up  to  three  or  four  hundred  varieties  and  even  eighty  or  ninety  per  cent 
completion  of  this  would  be  a lifetime  task. 

2)  A second  method,  very  popular  with  U.S.  coins,  is  to  collect  by 

denomination.  Here,  however,  we  run  into  difficulties  because  it  is 

difficult  to  distinguish  between  the  various  denominations  in  copper 
and  impossible  to  establish  a relationship  between  these  copper  _ 
coins  and  the  gold  and  silver  issues.  In  295  or  296,  Diocletian  intro- 
duced the  follis,  a copper  coin  plated  with  silver  and  rated  at  five 
copper  denarii.  This  coin,  originally  the  size  of  the  Augustan  as, 
gradually  fell  in  size  and  weight  and  was  only  fifteen  mm,  or  one  and 
a half  grams  by  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Constantine  the  Great.  His 
sons,  Constantius  II  and  Constans,  introduced  a new  copper  coin,  the 
centenionalis,  in  346  and  continued  its  issue  for  the  next  eight  years 
until  354.  Since  numismatists  are  still  at  odds  in  tracing  the  history 
of  the  base  coinage,  they  have  listed  the  copper  by  size,  AE1  , AE2, 

AE3,  and  AE4  and  named  AE1  the  largest  denomination.  We  might  speak 


232 


of  this  type  of  collecting  as  collecting  by  size  and  an  interesting 
study  could  be  made  of  the  progressive  deterioration  of  size  at  one 
or  several  mints. 

3)  A third  possible  type  of  specialization  is  to  collect  by  mints.  In 
the  Constantinian  era  there  were  almost  a score  of  mints  at  work.  One 
could  attempt  to  show  a coin  of  each  ruler  from  each  of  the  various 
mints,  or  one  could  work  intensively  on  the  output  of  one  or  two  mints 
and  show  all  types,  rulers,  offieinae , busts  and  inscriptions.  The 
London  mint,  for  example,  has  much  to  recommend  it.  Although  this  mint 
was  not  open  during  the  entire  Constantinian  period,  the  mint  master 
did  issue  some  three  hundred  varieties  - enough  to  satisfy  most  col- 
lectors and  their  purses.  Since  it  did  not  have  any  sub-workshops  or 
offieinae > the  collecting  of  this  mint  is  a bit  simpler.  It  also  has 
the  advantage  not  only  of  good  coverage  in  Roman  Imperial  Coinage  but 
also  in  Coinage  of  Roman  Britain  by  G.  Askew. 


A small  bronze  of  Constantine 
the  Great  from  LONDON  (PLN) . 


4)  One  can  collect  Constantinian  bronze  by  type.  The  extensive  approach 
could  be  to  show  one  of  the  twenty  or  so  more  common  types  or  even  one 
for  each  mint  or  ruler.  On  the  other  hand,  one  might  attempt  to  show 
at  least  one  of  all  possible  types,  of  which  there  might  be  as  many  as 
sixty-five  to  seventy-five.  It  is  hard  to  say  at  times  whether  a small 
change  in  wording  or  design  is  also  a change  in  type.  Some  bronze,  in- 
scribed GLORIA  EXERCITUS,  have  two  standards  between  two  soldiers  on 
the  reverse;  some  have  only  one  standard;  and  a few  have  only  one  sol- 
dier. The  coins  inscribed  fel(icum)  temp(orum)  reparatio  have  three 
clear  subtypes;  one  in  which  the  emperor  is  standing  on  the  prow  of 
a ship,  another  in  which  a soldier  is  dragging  a barbarian  from  his 
hut  and  still  another  in  which  a horse  soldier  is  spearing  a fallen 
enemy  (see  plate,  photo  #7). 6 


FEL  TEMP  REPARATIO  (and  variations)  sub-types : Emperor  stan- 
ding on  prow  of  ship  (left) 3 and  Soldier  dragging  a barbar- 
ian from  his  hut. 


But  these  two  types  by  no  means  complete  the  list  of  possible  types 
which  might  be  considered  for  an  intensive  collection.  Another  type, 
or  perhaps  more  accurately,  a group  of  related  types  is  found  in  the 


233 


vota  series  put  out  at  anniversaries  of  the  various  rulers'  assumption 
of  office.  These  coins  can  prove  quite  intriguing  and  dating  them  even 
more  so.  A fourth  type,  relatively  scarce,  might  be  those  coins  which 
carry  only  the  emperors  or  caesar's  name  on  the  reverse  instead  of 
the  usual  design.  A fifth  type  might  be  the  campgate  series  bearing 
the  inscription  PROVIDENTIA  CAES(ARIS)  or  AUGG  (for  AUGUSTORUM) J These 
vary  among  themselves  in  the  number  of  rows  of  brick  in  the  wall  and 
in  the  number  of  turrets  and  stars.  Sixth  and  seventh  candidates  might 
be  the  Roma  and  Constantinopolis  coins  which  we  mentioned  under  rulers, 
but  which  more  properly  could  be  thought  of  as  types.  Or  for  the  eighth 
and  ninth  possibility,  one  might  go  in  for  the  memorial  coins  - more 
specifically  the  VN-MR  and  quadriga  coins  - which  were  issued  after  the 
death  of  Constantine  the  Great.  A tenth  type  might  be  the  Two  Victories 
coin.  Sutherland  and  Carson  recognize  different  designs  for  the  altar 
on  the  reverse  and  there  are  other  variations  of  mint,  officinae , and 
field  marks. _ A last  suggestion  might  be  the  sol(I)  invicto  comiti 
series  of  which  RIC  recognizes  252  subvarieties^. 

It  is  only  by  intensive  study  of  a type,  ruler  or  mint  that  new  infor- 
mation is  obtained  about  dates,  orders  or  emission  and  monetary  policy; 
that  new  subvarieties  are  catalogued  and  that  the  military  and  political 
history  are  painstakingly  put  together.  For  very  little  money,  one  can 
become  an  expert  of  sorts  on  some  facet  of  the  Constantinian  era,  and 
in  his  cabinet,  one  can  store  the  emissions  of  a great  empire  and  per- 
haps, out-enjoy  the  wealthy  collector  of  statuary,  jewellery  or  paintings. 

5)  A fifth  type  of  specialization  might  be  called  collecting  by  condition. 
This  consists  of  picking  up  a beautiful  specimen  of  any  coin,  regardless 
of  the  ruler,  type  or  mint  and  regardless  of  one's  other  specialty.  It 
is  hard  to  resist  a specimen  that  is  unworn  and  as  brilliant  as  when  it 
left  the  workman's  bench  some  sixteen  centuries  ago.  Often  the  price 

is  amazingly  low.  "A  thing  of  beauty  is  a joy  forever"  the  poet  said 
and  to  hold,  for  example, -a  Helena  coin  in  almost  pristine  condition, 
showing  her  fine  features,  her  coiffure  and  her  jewellery  is  real 
pleasure  (see  plate,  coin  #2).  One  might,  of  course,  specialize  in 
poorer  coins,  especially  if  one  is  poor  himself!  Dealers  at  conventions 
often  put  out  cups  or  jars  of  unattributed  ancient  coins  and  these  are 
quite  likely  to  contain  a few  Constantinians.  Scrutiny  under  a glass 
may  well  rev&al  coins  of  some  scarcity  and  removal  of  dirt  and  encrus- 
tations may  even  uncover  some  beauty. 

6)  A sixth  form  of  specialization  is  to  look  only  for  the  rarer  coins. 

As  has  already  been  explained,  this  can  often  be  done  at  most  reasonable 
prices.  Since  RIC  gives  scarcity  ratings  and  since  most  dealers  price 
only  by  overall  type  and  ruler,  it  is  not  difficult  to  find  rare 
jewels  at  comon  prices. 

7)  A seventh  form  of  specialization  would  be  to  collect  those  coins 
having  some  special  feature  which  has  caught  the  eye  of  the  collector. 
Probably  the  best  way  to  explain  this  is  to  give  a few  examples: 

A.  In  the  quadriga  coin,  one  of  the  memorial  coins  issued  after  the 
death  of  Constantine  the  Great  in  A.D.  337,  one  may  see  at  the  top  of 
the  obverse  the  manus  Dei , the  hand  of  God,  stretched  out  to  recieve 
the  ascending  emperor.  There  are  interesting  variations  in  the  shape 
of  this  hand  and  of  its  fingers  and  these  variations  could  be  the 
basis  of  a small  specialized  collection. 


234 


A small  bronze  of  Constantine  the  Great 
from  Sisoia  mint  shewing  the  warrior 
Emperor  wearing  a helmet  bearing  two  Crosses. 

It  has  been  attributed  tentatively  to  A.D.  319,  and  tentatively  as 
catalogue  attribution  RIC  VII , Siscia  #84,  A officinae.  I on  reverse. 


B.  In  the  two  victories  type,  there  is  a coin  from  Siscia  mint,  of- 
ficina  A,  which  shows  a cross  on  Constantine's  helmet.  Some  authorities 
dispute  this  and  claim  that  it  is  not  a cross,  but  this  author  has  a 
copy  and  has  seen  a much  clearer  and  more  beautiful  copy  in  the  pos- 
session of  a Fort  Wayne  dealer.  While  one  coin,  or  even  several  speci- 
mens of  this  rare  coin,  would  hardly  make  a collection,  the  symbols 
found  on  rulers'  helmets,  including  this  very  special  one,  might  make 

an  interesting  study. 

C.  A few  Constantinian  bronzes  use  a sort  of  mini-bust  of  the  ruler, 
distinctly  smaller  than  the  usual  one,  and  a display  of  a number  of 
pairs  of  coins  bearing  the  two  sizes  of  bust  of  the  same  ruler  and  having 
the  same  mint  marks  would  make  an  interesting  display  as  well  as  enlarge 
our  knowledge  of  the  coinage  of  this  era. 

D.  A few  Constantinian  bronzes  have  a silverish  appearance.  This  is 
due  to  a silver  bath  they  were  given,  apparently  to  make  them  look  more 
valuable.  A discussion  of  this  practice  can  be  found  in  RIC  and  in 
other  books  on  the  coinage  of  this  period.  The  author  once  owned  a copy 
of  Trier  208a  (RIC  number ) which  had  such  an  appearance.  Perhaps  there 
are  not  enough  to  justify  a collection  devoted  only  to  them,  but  at 
least  one  of  these  coins  would  make  an  interesting  conversation  piece 
and  enhance  most  collections. 

E.  An  intriguing  display  could  be  made  of  so-called  hybrid  coins.  On 
such  coins  the  obverse  of  one  type  or  ruler  has  somehow  been  combined 
with  a reverse  belonging  to  another  type  or  ruler,  usually  the  one 
adjacent  in  point  of  time.  It  is  presumed  that  careless  mint-workers 
would  change  to  the  obverse  of  a new  ruler  or  type  and  forget  to  make 
or  pick  up  the  proper  new  reverse  or  somehow  mix  up  the  dies  that  be- 
longed to  two  rulers  or  types.  This  happened  from  time  to  time  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  in  order  to  avoid  such  mix-ups  coins  of  different  con- 
temporaneous rulers  were  usually  allocated  to  separate  workshops. 

We  could  pursue  this  matter  further,  but  each  man  to  his  own  taste. 

There  are  many  viable  alternatives  and  some  of  our  readers  could  sug- 
gest others. 

Of  course,  we  have  omitted  one  common  way  of  collecting  - collecting 
by  date.  Roman  coins  were  not  dated.  Nevertheless,  as  a result  of  in- 
tensive study  by  experts  most  issues  have  been  fairly  well  placed  in 
time.  But  there  were  time  lags  between  issues  and  occasional  re-issues 


235 


so  that  it  would  not  be  very  practical  to  try  to  collect  a given  year 
or  any  time  period  less  than  half  a decade  and  even  then,  the  termini 
a quo  and  cud  quem  would  have  to  be  fluid  at  best. 

Obviously,  there  are  numerous  combinations  of  the  above  approaches,  and 
most  collectors  of  ancient  coins  dabble  in  more  than  one.  This  field 
of  collecting  offers  almost  endless  variety,  even  amongst  supposedly 
identical  coins.  There  is  plenty  of  room  for  all  to  stake  claims  and 
to  enlarge  your  knowledge  of  this  period  of  history.  There  is  a lot  of 
bronze  in  those  Constantinian  hills.  By  digging  into  them  with  Roman 
Imperial  Coins  and  a magnifying  glass,  one  can  come  upon  beautiful  artifacts 
and  know  that  there  are  not  fifteen,  not  ten,  other  specimens  on  this 
earth.  Truly,  Constantinian  bronze  offers  a fascinating  prospect. 


FURTHER  READING 


Readers  who  wish  to  learn  more  about  Constantinian  coins  should  find  the 
following  bibliography  a helpful  introduction:  - G.  Mickwitz's  Geld  und 
Wirtschaft  im  rbmischen  Reich  des  vierten  Jahrhunderts  n.  Chr.  (He! si nki 
1932)  and  S.  Bolin's  State  and  Currency  in  the  Roman  Empire  (Stockholm 
1958)  remain  the  most  authoritative  works  on  the  monetary  policies  of 
the  Roman  state.  Daniel  Sperber,  "Gold  and  Silver  Standards  - a study 
of  Rabbinic  Attitudes  to  the  Roman  Coinage,"  Numismatic  Chronicle  1968, 
83-109,  confirms  some  of  the  suggestions  of  Bolin  and  Mickwitz.  In  his 
study  of  Talmudic  legal  texts,  Sperber  notices  a change  of  attitude 
towards  Roman  coins  during  the  second,  third  and  fourth  centuries  A.D. 
Documents  of  the  second  century  presuppose  the  use  of  a silver  standard, 
the  traditional  measure  of  Hellenistic  times;  documents  of  the  third 
century  show  a gradual  disenchantment  with  the  silver  coinage;  and 
documents  of  the  fourth  century  prefer  gold  and  discriminate  against 
the  silvered  follis.  Indeed,  D.  Kienast  has  pointed  out  how  slowly  the 
follis  replaced  the  base  antoninianus  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  empire. 
His  study,  "Der  Munzfund  von  Ankara  (270-311  n.  Chr.),"  Jahrbuck  fur 
Numismatik  und  Geldgeschichte  12  (1962)  65-112,  presented  a Turkish  hoard 
of  885  coins  as  evidence.  The  hoard  was  buried  in  A.D.  311  and  contained 
576  antoninianii , but  only  309  folles  from  Siscia,  Carthage  and  Alexand- 
ria. Counterfeiters  copied  these  coins  as  well  as  the  centenional is  of 
Constantius  II  and  Constans;  and  against  the  old  theory,  a body  of  evi- 
dence now  suggests  that  all  these  copies  were  contemporary  with  the 
originals.  G.C.  Boon  recorded  193  counterfeits  - minimissimi  of  the 
FEL.TEMP.  REP.  and  fallen  horseman  type  - in  the  ruin  of  a Romano-Celtic 
temple,  built  circa  340  on  a promontary. projecting  into  the  Bristol 
Channel  and  deserted  by  Rome  in  367.  Since  this  same  span  of  time  also 
saw  the  official  productions.  Boon  published  and  emphasized  his  findings 
as  "The  Roman  Temple  in  Brean  Down,  Somerset.  With  Report  on  the  Roman 
Coins  and  Samian  Wares,"  Proceedings  of  the  University  of  Bristol 
Spelaeological  Society  10,  3 (1965)  195-258. 

Of  course  most  of  the  coins  have  been  catalogued  in  Late  Roman  Bronze 
Coinage  A.D.  324-498  (London  1965)  by  P.V.  Hill  and  J.P.C.  Kent  and 
Roman  Imperial  Coinage  VII  (London  1966)  by  P.M.  Bruun  (C.H.V.  Suther- 
land, ed.).  But  many  unedited  coins  keep  coming  to  light  in  new  pub- 
lications: T.  Bakir,  "Archaeological  News  1965-67,"  Libya  Antique  3-4 
(1966-67)  241,  251;  P.  Bastien,  "Monnaie  ingdite  de  Constantin  de 


236 


I'emission  lyonnaise  TF/PLG  de  315,"  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  franoaise 
de  Numismatique  23,  4 ( April  1968  1 267-268;  "Additions  au  R.I.C." 

Cercle  d’Etudes  Numismatique  7,  1 (Jan. -March  1970);  P.  Bastien  "Some 
Comments  on  the  Coinage  of  the  London  Mint  A.D.  297-313,"  Numismatic 
Chronicle  1971,  151-165  and  especially  R.  Wei  Her,  Catalogue  des  folles 
romaines:  Diocletien-Licinius  II  (Luxembourg  1972). 

The  vast  number  of  unedited  coins  coming  to  light  is  due  in  part  to  the 
frequent  discovery  of  Constanti ni an  bronze.  It  does  not  follow  that 
this  hoarding  conflicts  with  the  supposed  preference  for  gold  in  the 
fourth  century  A.D.  because  many  hoards  were  hidden  at  short  notice 
during  a political  crisis.  Baron  Louis  Chaurand,  "Le  tr§sor  de  Chavannes," 
BSFN  ?5  (Nov.  1970)  587-588,  gave  notice  of  one  such  hoard  consisting 
of  5,000  folles.  The  lot  contained  31  coins  of  Licinius  (A.D.  308-324) 
and  many  Constanti ni an  folles  struck  before  the  fifth  reduction  of  weight 
in  322  and  Chaurand  could  thus  associate  the  burial  date  with  the  over- 
throw of  Licinius  by  Constantine  in  324.  M.B.  VasiC  came  to  a similar 
interpretation  when  he  discussed  a Yugoslavian  hoard  in  1967.  His  paper, 
"Ostava  folisa  u Narodnom  Muzeju  u Beograda,"  Zdor  Narod  Muz  Beogradu  5 
(1967)  185-193  (summary  in  French),  published  a hoard  of  113  folles  found 
at  Vojvodina,  Serbia.  The  lot  consisted  of  the  issues  of  three  emperors. 
Maxi  minus  Daza,  Licinius  and  Constantine  the  Great  and  these  coins  came 
from  the  mints  of  Siscia,  Thessaloni ca , Heracleia,  Cyzicus  and  Rome. 

Since  the  last  emissions  were  struck  in  310-314,  VasiC  associated  the 
burial  v/ith  the  early  conflicts  between  Constantine  and  Licinius  (312). 

Emil  Cerskov,  "Kasnoanti cka  ostava  iz  Dobrotina  na  Kosovu,"  Glasnic 
Muzeja  Kosova  i Metokije  7-8  (1962-3),  317-338  (summary  in  French)  asso- 
ciated a hoard  of  over  6,000  folles  buried  in  340,  with  the  conflict 
between  Constans-Constantine  II.  And  R.  Weiller  "Ein  Munzschatzfund  aus 
der  Zeit  des  Kaisers  Magnetius,"  Acta  Praehistorica  et  Archaeologica  1 
(1970)  associated  a hoard  of  120  coins  with  the  revolt  of  Paemenius  aand 
Trier  in  353.  All  these  hoards,  according  to  Bruun,  were  hidden  away 
for  their  intrinsic  value  as  bullion. 

FOOTNOTES 


1.  The  legend  translates:  the  glory  of  the  army. 

2.  D.  Sear,  Roman  Coins  and  their  Values  (London  1970). 

3.  The  twelve  caesars  are  the  Julio-Claudians  and  Flavians. 

4.  Helena,  Fausta  and  Constanti a were  respectively  the  mother,  wife 
and  half-sister  of  Constantine  the  Great. 

5.  The  author  does  not  wish  to  equate  present  scarcity  with  ancient 
scarcity.  The  question  of  whether  Crispi  were  scarce  in  the  4th 
century  A.D.  will  have  to  wait  for  a comparative  die  study  of  Con- 
stanti ni  an  issues.  But  the  assumption  that  Crispi  were  scarce  is 
a reasonable  one  becasue  there  was  a relatively  short  period  when 
Crispus  held  an  important  position  striking  coins  and  because  there 
is  no  reason  to  believe  his  coins  were  randomly  destroyed  in  areater 
numbers. 

6.  The  legend  reads:  the  restoration  of  happy  times. 

7.  The  inscription  translates:  the  foresight  of  the  caesar  or 

augustus. 

8.  The  legend  reads:  to  Sol , the  unconquered  associate. 

*********************************************************************** 


237 


AN  I NTR 0 DUCTIO N TO  BYZANTINE  COINAGE 

J.  C.  G.  Campbell Lincoln , Nebraska,  NI  #LM-12 

TIBERUIS  II  CONSTANTINE  574-582 

Tiberi,us  was  one  of  the  few  decent  emperors  in  Byzantine  history,  wise, 
humane  and  successful  in  wars.  He  continued  the  war  against  Persia 
with  success  but  less  so  with  the  Avars.  However,  he  was  unfortunate 
in  that  he  had  poor  health,  dying  of  consumption  in  582.  The  ex- 
empress Sophia,  who  still  lived  in  the  palace,  intrigued  against  him 
with  a certain  Justinian  (son  of  Germanus  for  whose  murder  she  v/as 
probably  responsible),  but  the  plot  was  discovered.  Sophia  escaped 
but  Tiberius  forgave  Justinian,  even  giving  him  a major  military  com- 
mand - again  an  almost  unique  event  in  Byzantine  history.  Knowing 
he  would  soon  die  the  emperor  selected  Maurice  Tiberius  as  successor, 
marrying  him  to  his  daughter  Constantia.  His  own  wife,  Ino,  had  taken 
the  name  of  Anastasia,  reputedly  the  choice  of  the  "Blue"  faction  who 
outbid  that  of  the  "Greens". 

The  regnal  years  begin  with  Tiberius'  appointment  as  Caesar,  so  the 
first  one  on  his  coins  is  4,  indiction  12/13. 

Coin  Portraits 


The  illustration  below  shows  Maurice  Tiberius  in  the  robes  of  First 
Consul,  a survival  of  Roman  days. 


Sceptre  with  eagle 
in  place  of  orb  and 
cross. 

Consular  tunic 


Follis  (Antioch) 

Mr.  Wroth,  in  his  two  volumes  of  Byzantine  coins,  has  an  interesting 
section  on  portraiture.  Unlike  the  Roman  emperors  of  whom  many  busts 
survive,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  in  the  early  centuries  the  Roman 
coins  were  portraits  (and  the  likenesses  can  thus  be  compared),  no 
busts  of  the  Byzantine  emperors  have  survived  - if  indeed  any  were 
made.  Justinian's  coins  can  be  compared  with  the  mosaics  in  Ravenna, 
but  there  is  no  guarantee  that  these  are  accurate.  For  later  reigns 
there  are  portraits  surviving  in  Mss  but  no  one  can  be  sure  about 
these  either.  The  die-cutters  had  the  habit  of  using  pellets  for 
eyes  and  these  interfere  with  true  portraiture,  sometimes  the  beard 
or  the  shape  of  the  head  may  help  (Phocas)  where  both  are  distinctive. 
Probably  most  of  the  heads  are  conventional  and  in  many  cases  the  die- 
cutters  will  never  have  seen  the  emperor. 

The  following  drawings,  with  their  variations,  show  very  clearly  that 


238 


there  is  no  attempt  at  portraiture.  Apart  from  Tiberius'  age,  note 
the  differences.  One  error  here,  the  drawings  gives  eyes  to  each  bust, 
not  pellets  as  on  the  coins. 


Additional  Mints 


CATANIA  (Sicily) 


CAT.  582-629. 


CONSTANTINE  in  Numidia 


CHERSON,  Crimea 
SYRACUSE  (Sicily) 


CON.  540/41  - 592/93.  This  was  used  spor- 
adically in  this  period  and  Seaby  lists  it 
with  (?).  Earlier  books  list  such  coins 
under  Constantinople. 

XEPCWNOC , XEPCONOC , U,  nX  527-565,  582-602. 
SECILIA,  SCL,  CVPAKOVCI . 


Coinage 


GOLD:  The  reign  being  short,  the  gold  is  rare  and  most  of  it  minted  in 

Constantinople  for  which  the  officinae  noted  are: 

A,  B,  r,  A,  E,  s,  z,  H,  I,  e.  The  main  innovation  is 
the  use  of  the  cross  on  steps  for  the  reverse,  a de- 
sign that  was  to  run  through  much  of  Byzantine  coinage. 
Obverse  legend:  DMTIB  CONSTANT  PP  AVC  (with  variations). 

Reverse  legend:  VICTORIA  AUGG. 


CONSTANTINOPLE:  Solidus,  light  solidus,  semissis,  tremissis. 


239 


ANTIOCH: 

CARTHAGE: 

RAVENNA: 


Lt.  solidus  (22  sil . ) 

Solidus. 

Solidus,  It.  solidus,  tremissis. 


SILVER:  This  continues  to  be  rare  and  was  struck  at: 


CONSTANTINOPLE: 
CARTHAGE : 


Miliarense  (3.15  gr) , silique  (1.65-2.15,  the  sym- 
bol nB  used  on  the  reverse).  I 

^ s i m qua  (1.1),  h siliqua  (0.6). 


k Siliqua,-  Carthage  % Siliqua,  Rccoenna 


RAVENNA:  % siliqua  (0.45)  using  Cross  potent. 


COPPER:  Here  there  are  a number  of  changes.  The  M of  40  nummia  be- 

comes cursive  (see  illustration  below).  The  V or  the  5 N becomes  H 
and  there  is  a new  denomination  XXX  - 30  N.  XX  is  used  in  place  of  K 
for  20  N (h  follis)  at  Constantinople  & Ravenna. 


Follis,  year  5,  cursive  M 5 N,  Rome  30  N,  new  denomination 


CONSTANTINOPLE: 


THESSAL0NICA: 

NIC0MEDIA: 

CYZICUS • 

THE0UP0LIS  (Ant.): 


ALEXANDRIA: 
ROME : 


M consular  robes;  officinae  - A,  B,  r.  A,  E. 

XXX,  J*  follis  K or  XX,  10  N 0 N T I b E R AU.  (var- 
iations), 5 N various  legends,  brief 
% follis,  Tiberius  and  Anastasian  on  double  throne. 

M,  both  cuirass  and  consular  robe  types,  XXX  cuirass, 
^ fol 1 is  , cui rass . 

M,  consular;  XXX,  cuirass. 

M.  Legend  usually  blundered,  cuirass  and  consular 
types.  These  latter  are  distinguished  from  those  of 
Maurice  Riberius  for  this  mint,  only  by  the  cross 
ornament  on  his  crown  which  is  surmounted  by  a tre- 
foil ornament.  In  many  issues  the  variety  of  orna- 
ments, pellets,  garment  details,  etc.  in  later  reigns 
become  very  important  for  identification,  varieties, 
etc.  XXX,  consular;  ^ follis,  K and  XX,  cuirass  and 
consular;  10  N,  cuirass  and  consular. 

12  N,  DM  CONSTANTINUS  PP  A and  variations. 

Jg  follis,  cuirass. 


240 


% Follis,  Thess.  10  N (Rev.) , Ravenna  % Follis , Rome 

RAVENNA:  10  N,  cuirass,  legend  often  incomplete. 

NOTE : The  legend  "VITA"  may  appear  on  some  coins,  obverse  or  reverse. 

It  is  short  for  a legend  in  Latin  meaning  "Long  life  to...". 

********************************************************************** 
MARCUS  DIDIUS  JULIANUS 


Robert  Kutcher,  Lincoln,  Nebraska , NI  #1289 


In  the  year  193  A.D.  the  Roman  Empire  sank  to  its  lowest  level  when 
the  emperor  Pertinax  was  brutally  murdered.  At  this  point  the  Praetor- 
ian guards  publicy  announced  that  they  would  elect  as  the  emperor  the 
man  who  would  pay  them  the  highest  price.  At  their  auction,  Marcus 

Didius  Julianus,  a wealthy  senator  offered 
25  thousand  sestertii  to  each  man  of  the 
Praetorian  guard.  He  was  declared  emperor 
on  the  spot. 

Didius  Julianus  reigned  for  only  two  months 
and  five  days  before  being  condemned  to 
death  by  a vote  of  the  senate.  He  was  ex- 
ecuted in  the  Imperial  Palace  within  an  hour 
of  his  sentencing. 


********************************************************************** 
POLAND,  NEW  REGULAR  TYPES,  1984 


John  DeMarais,  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  NI  # 1539 

Poland  introduced  a new  series  of  10  and  20  zlotych  coins  in  the  period 
1973-1975.  However,  these  were  supplemented  by  banknotes  of  the  same 
value  in  the  early  1980's.  These  small  notes  are  now  being  superseded 
by  a new  series  of  10  and  20  zlotych  coins.  The  new  pieces  are  of  a 
regular  type  rather  than  the  varying  types  used  on  these  denominations 
in  the  past.  The  obverse  bears  the  Polish  eagle  while  the  reverse 
bears  only  a very  large  numeral  of  value  and  the  word  "zlotych"  between 
two  bars  below.  Both  coins  are  cupro-nickel  and  have  reeded  edges. 

The  10  zlotych  is  25mm  in  diameter  (the  same  diameter  as  the  same  coin 
of  the  mid-1970's)  and  the  20  zlotych  is  26.5mm  in  diameter.  The  same 
coin  of  the  mi d- 1 970 1 s was  29mm  in  diameter.  The  diameters  of  the  two 
new  coins  are  quite  close  together  and  may  result  in  some  confusion. 
Both  coins  are  quite  well  struck  with  almost  prooflike  surfaces. 


********************************************************************* 

241 


THE  PASCO  MINT: 

The  Eight  Reales  of  1836 

Horace  P.  Flatty  Saratoga , California 3 NI  H 1857 


As  a part  of  a program  to  help  stimulate  the  silver  mining  industry  in 
Peru,  a law  was  passed  on  December  19,  1832  and  signed  on  October  30, 

1833  creating  a mint  at  Cerro  de  Pasco,  the  center^of  silver  mining  in 
that  country.  A lack  of  public  money  forestalled  the  implementation 
of  this  law  and  an  alternative  plan  involving  the  formation  of  a private 
society  to  operate  the  mint  was  described  in~a  decree  of  General  Felipe 
Santiago  de  Salaverry  dated  February  21,  1835.  As  noted  in  a collection 
of  laws  and  decrees  of  Peru  (1),  the  decree  of  1835  was  not  implemented. 

However,  the  existence  of  an  eight  reales  coin  dated  1836  with  the  mint- 
mark  "PASCO"  and  assayer's  initials  "M.O."  is  well-known,  having  been 
pictured  as  early  as  1845  (2).  It  is  considered  an  extremely  rare  coin, 
with  only  one  or  possibly  two  specimens  being  known  at  the  present  time. 
Sr.  Daniel  Diez-Canseco  Sanchez  in  1978  (3)  suggested  that  this  coin  be 
considered  as  a pattern  coin,  possibly  made  in  Lima.  Mo  suggestion  was 
made  as  to  the  meaning  ascribed  to  the  assayer's  initials.  The  purpose 
of  this  article  is  to  suggest^that  this  coin  was  a pattern  coin,  probably 
made  in  the  Department  of  Junin,  and  to  suggest  the  probable  meaning  of 
those  initials. 

In  my  studies,  the  first  clue  as  to  the  possible  origin  of  the  coin  was 
.discovered  in  a passage  of  a book  by  Archibald  Smith,  an  English  physician 
who  lived  many  years  in  Peru.  He  wrote  (4): 

"The  evils  attendant  on  the  existing  arrangements  (to  prevent  the 
contraband  traffic  in  silver  bullion)  led  the  legislature  to  pass 
a law  for  the  establishment  of  a mint  at  the  mines  of  Pasco;  but 
this  desirable  object  has  not  yet  been  carried  into  effect  in  a 
proper  and  efficent  manner,  though  we  understand  that  the  prefect 
Quiros  employed  a native  tradesman  to  erect  some  rude  machinery  by 
which  a few  hundred  dollars  were  thrown  off  daily." 

Subsequently,  the  close  reading  of  contemporary  newspapers  led  to  the 
discovery  of  the  following  item  in  the  statement  of  accounts  of  the 
treasury  of  the  Department  of  Junin  for  the  month  of  September  1836  (5). 
Under  the  category  of  "Extraordinary  Costs",  we  find  the  following  entry: 

"27.  The  same  for  the  ex-Subprefect  D.  Jorge  Duran  to  D.  Eujenio 
Revolvo  for  the  import  of  6 ounces  of  silver  which  was  invested  in 
the  machinery  that  was  constructed  for  the  mining  area. 

5 Pesos  2 Reales  " 

This  record  confirms  that  part  of  Smith's  account  relative  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  machinery  while  the  date  of  the  Treasury  record  strongly 
suggests  that  the  "6  pesos  fuertes"  were  indeed  the  Pasco  eight  reales. 

A study  of  other  early  issues  of  "El  Eco  del  Protectorado"  reveals  many 
references  to  D.  Manuel  Andrds  de  Oyrazabel  , who  became  the  operator  of 


242 


the  callana  at  Pasco  in  1837  and  assayer  of  the  Pasco  mint  in  1843.  Again, 
while  the  evidence  is  not  entirely  conclusive,  it  does  seem  reasonable 
that  the  initials  "M.O."  on  the  coin  are  those  of  Oyrazabel . 

The  facsimile  of  the  reverse  of  the  eight  reales  appears  to  be  at  least 
similar,  if  not  identical  to  the  eight  escudos  gold  coins  of  the  period. 

No  additional  record  concerning  the  striking  of  the  coins  within  Junin 
are  currently  known.  However,  a reasonable  hypothesis  based  upon  the 
available  description  of  the  coin  and  the  above  record  is  the  following: 

The  Pasco  eight  reales  is  a pattern  or  trial  coin  using  dies  probably 
made  in  Lima.  Possibly  as  few  as  six  coins  were  made.  The  coins  were 
struck  in  Junin,  possibly,  but  not  definitely,  in  Pasco  itself. 

One  reason  for  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  location  of  the  coin  press  is 
that  according  to  (6),  Duran  was  the  subprefect  of  Hucinuco,  not  Pasco, 
and  a case  could  be  made  that  the  coin  press  was  actually  located  at 
Hucinuco.  This  explanation  then  leads  to  an  entertaining  speculation 
that  the  development  of  the  "rude  machinery"  contributed  to  the  striking 
of  the  "huanuqueflos"  during  the  period  of  Estado  Nor-Peruano.  These 
huanuquenos  were  counterfeit  coin  struck  "in  or  around"  Huanuco  and 
which  contributed  to  Peru's  economic  problems  of  the  period  (7). 

If  this  speculation  were  correct,  then  it  could  also  offer  an  explanation 
of  Smith's  comment  relative  to  the  few  hundred  dollars  "thrown  off  daily", 
for  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  a few  hundred  of  the  Pasco  eight 
reales  were  struck  daily. 

In  summary,  this  article  brings  out  some  new  evidence  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  Pasco  eight  reales  of  1836.  It  is  suggested  that  the  coin  is  a 
pattern  coin  made  "somewhere"  in  Junin,  with  possibly  as  few  as  six  coins 
being  made.  The  evidence  for  this  assertion  is  not  conclusive,  but  is 
reasonably  compelling.  A definitive  explanation  can  be  made  only  if 
additional  records  can  be  discovered. 

REFERENCES : 


1.  Santos  de  Quiros,  Jose  Coleccion  de  Leyes 3 Decretos  y 0rdenes3  (Lima: 
Jose  Masias,  1841),  v.  5,  p.  34 

2.  Riddell,  J.L.,  Monograph  of  the  Silver  dollar 3 (Cincinnati:  E. 
Shepard,  1845),  No.  97 

3.  Diez-Canseco,  S.  D.,  "El  8 reales  de  1836,  M.O.  de  Pasco  Prueba?", 
Numismatica,  No.  29,  p.  12  (1978) 

4 . Smi th , A . , Peru  4s  It  Is : A Residence  in  Lima  and  Other  Parts  of  the 
Peruvian  Republic 3 (London:  Richard  Bentley,  1839),  v. 2,  p.  20-1 

5.  "El  Eco  del  Protectorado" , No.  19,  October  22,  1836 

6.  Calendario  y Guia  de  Porasteros  de  Lima  para  el  Ano  de  1835 3 (Lima: 
J.M.  Masias,  1834),  p.  63 

7.  "La  Libertad  Restaurada",  v.  2,  No.  35,  July  25,  1840 

******* ********************************* ************************ *★*★**★* 

DID  YOU  KNOW?  That  the  HELLER  originally  was  a small  silver  coin  issued 
in  the  13th  century  and  took  its  name  from  Hall  in  Wurttemburg. 

(Submitted  by  Don  Etzel) 


243 


UNI EDAALDERS : MUCH  HISTORY,  LESS  COIN 


by  Peter  Xraneveld3  Draveil3  France 3 NI  # 1131 

In  1975,  the  Utrecht  mint  struck  medals  with  a face  value  by  order  of 
the  City  of  Amsterdam  to  be  used  during  the  special  exposition  cele- 
brating the  700th  anniversary  of  Amsterdam's  city  rights  (see  also  NI 
BULLETIN  Vol . 10,  No.  1,  January,  1976,  pp24-25).  As  usual,  the  mint 
put  its  mintmark,  but  also  the  mintmastermark  on  the  medal.  As  the 
medals  were  accepted  as  coin  during  and  within  the  exposition  (1)  they 
became  effectively  tokens  and  generated  much  interest. 

In  the  next  few  years  more  and  more  medals  were  issued  by  a few  issuers, 
hiding  behind  different  "festivities  organization  committees".  Many 
were  no  longer  struck  by  the  Utrecht  mint  and  most  were  no  longer  used 
as  coin,  and  therefore  unequivocally,  became  medals.  Collectors'  int- 
erest faded  as  issues  multiplied  (18  in  1977,  in  three  metals  and  often 
available  also  as  proofs  and  on  double  thickness  planchets).  One  of 
the  later,  and  more  interesting  issues  in  the  series  is  the  "Uniedaalder" 

issue  commemorating  the  Union  of  Utrecht. 

The  obverse  shows  a climbing  lion  with  a 
bundle  of  arrows  (symbolizing  the  United 
Provinces)  in  one  paw  in  a circle  and  the 
text  "UNIE  VAN  UTRECHT  1579-1979".  The  re- 
verse is  graced  by  the  combined  arms  of 
the  province  and  the  city  of  Utrecht  crown- 
ed in  a circle  of  pearls  and  the  text  "CON- 
CORDIA RES  PARVAE  CRESCVNT"  (unity  is 
strength) . 

The  Union  of  Utrecht  is  a watershed  in 
Dutch  history.  On  the  one  hand  it  marks 
the  separation  of  the  northern,  protestant  and  Dutch  speaking  provinces, 
from  the  southern,  catholic  and  French  speaking,  part  of  the  Low  Coun- 
tries. On  the  other  hand,  the  document  became  the  countries'  first 
constitution,  together  with  such  documents  as  the  declaration  of  in- 
dependence (Plakkaat  van  Verlatinge)  and  the  peace  treaty  with  the 
former  king.  As  such,  it  was  retained  until  Napoleon's  troops  ended 
the  Republic  in  1795. 

The  Uniedaalders  were  not,  as  might  be  expected  by  their  name,  a sign 
of  cooperation  within  the  Union.  During  the  war  of  independence, 
which  in  1579  had  limited  the  Spanish  influence  in  the  Low  Countries 
to  Luxembourg  alone,  overvalued  si  1 ver  Lion  dollars  (Leeuwendaalders) 
and  Estates  dollars  (Statendaalders)  helped  finance  military  expenses. 

In  1580  the  Prince  of  Parma  started  a reconquest  of  the  Southern  Neth- 
erlands that  would  separate  most  of  present  day  Belgium  from  the  Neth- 
erlands in  its  present  form.  He  reinstituted  pre-war  silver  coinage 
and  thereby  waged  economic  war  also. 

The  relatively  rich  provinces,  especially  Holland,  pushed  through  a 
decision  of  the  Estates  General  to  also  reintroduce  pre-war  silver 
coins.  In  practice  the  decision  meant  the  end  for  small  unauthorized 
mints  and  nothing  for  provincial  mints.  Gelderland  and  Utrecht  pro- 
duced Uniedaalders  (Union  dollars)  valued  considerable  over  the  value 
of  their  silver  content. 


244 


The  Utrecht  coin  had  the  crowned  combined  arms  of  the  province  and  the 
city  on  one  side  in  a circle  of  pearls  and  the  text  PH ( i 1 ip)S.D(ei ) : 
G(ratia) .HlSP(aniorum) .REX.D(omi )N(u)S .TRAIEC  (Philip,  by  the  grace  of 
God  king  of  Spain,  lord  of  Utrecht)  and  on  the  other  the  arms  of  the 
Estates  General,  a climbing  lion  with  sword  in  one  paw,  bundle  of 
arrows  in  the  other  in  a circle  of  pearls,  the  date  15-79  (separated 
by  the  city  of  Utrecht  arms  - the  Mintmark)  and  the  text  CONCORDIA. 
RES.PARVAE.CRESCVNT.  The  frozen  date  was  the  only  concession  to  the 
Union,  as  the  coins  were  struck  in  1580.  In  1581,  the  year  the  Est- 
ates General  declared  the  king's  rights  to  be  void,  Utrecht  reintro- 
duced the  pre-war  half  Philips  daalder  with  the  kings'  bust  and  arms. 
The  Gelderland  Uniedaalder  was  likewise  struck  only  in  1580  and  dated 
1579. 

The  Utrecht  mint  struck  a commemorative  2h  Guilder  coin  in  1979  for 
the  Union  of  Utrecht  with  an  unattractive  lettered  design  (Y-66). 

This  coin,  which  can  still  be  found  in  circulation,  provides  the 
Uniedaalder-medals ' only  connection  with  coins.  The  medal's  success 
can  be  explained  to  an  extent  by  the  general  rejection  of  the  coin. 


(1)  Large  silver  medals  with  a multiple  value  indication  were  also 
struck,  but  not  circulated  owing  to  their  price  of  issue. 

********************************************************************** 


INFORMATION,  Please  - REPLIES 


A prtl  item  identified 


Venice/Italy 

Copper  "Bagattino"  undated 
(oa.  16th  Century) 


In  case  the  "INFORMATION,  Please" 
item  in  the  April  1985  NI  BULLETIN 
(p.  103)  is  still  a mystery,  I have 
included  a drawing  of  my  piece  which 
seems  to  be  a bit  better  than  the 
one  shown.  It  is  the  Marcus  Lion 
(winged)  on  one  side  and  Madonna 
with  child  on  the  other.  R.C.L.A. 
stands  for  Regina  Coeli  Laetare, 
Alleluja  (Queen  of  Heaven,  Jubilate 
Alleluja) . 

Wilhelm  Eglseer 

Bonn,  Fed.  Rep.  of  Germany 


More  replies  on  video  game  parlor  token 

Several  members  wrote  concerning  the  video  game  parlor  token  published 
in  June  (p.  166).  We  published  Marlin  Etzel's  reply  last  month  and 
these  additional  replies  indicate  the  token  is  used  at  Aladdin's  Castle 
in  the  Buffalo,  New  York  area  and  other  stores  of  the  same  chain  through- 
out the  USA,  including  Reno,  Nevada. 


Editor 


*********************************************************************** 

245 


AN  ANTINOUS  LOOK-ALIKE 


by  the  late  Larry  Devine 3 NI  #1832 


Who  do  you  see  at  left? 


CILICIA 3 FLAVIOPOLIS  3 aa.  AD  141.  AE  22.  Obv.  : Bare  head  of  Errrp. 
Marcus  Aurelius3  rt.  3 with  his  name  behind  head  AVPHAIOC;  with 
KAIEAPtn  front  of  face  on  some  ‘pieces ; Rev.:  Female  bust  rt. ; 
wearing  a high  tiara-like  headdress  up  over  her  head.  Inscription 
behind  her  head:  OAAVIOITOAEITWNeT-H.  APPARENTLY  UNPUBLISHED. 

With  that  rare  and  desireable  salt  and  pepper  patina.  VF+/VF. 

Here  is  a very  interesting  coin,  which  has  been  trying  my  patience  for 
four  long  years,  and  has  taken  Four  Specimens  to  finally  attribute  it 
correctly.  I obtained  my  first  specimen  in  a lot  four  years  ago  (1975), 
and  could  hardly  believe  my  luck;  here  was  a fairly  worn  but  nonethe- 
less nice  portrait  of  Antinous.  There  was  almost  no  legend  to  speak  of, 
but  on  the  reverse  was  the  bust  of  a rather  oddly  appareled  female, 
which  would  be  easy,  to  spot  once  I came  across  a plated  specimen  in  a 
reference  or  auction  catalogue.  Over  a year  went  by  without  seeing  it 
anywhere,  but  lo  and  behold,  I'm  looking  through  some  coins  offered  to 
me  and  I spot  another  one  in  the  group  with  some  letters  visible,  so 
I immediately  wrote  out  a check  and  went  off  to  study  those  letters. 

It  had  a die  break  which  didn't  affect  anything,  less  wear  than  the 
first  one,  the  obv.  was  again  the  better  side  so  the  portrait  of 
Antinous  was  excellent,  even  though  the  coin  itself  did  not  grade  high. 
The  visible  letters  I'd  seen  were  in  a vertical  line  behind  the  head 
of  Antinous,  a little  hard  to  make  out  but  I finally  got  them  all: 
AVPHAIOC.  Aurelius?  It  can't  be!  Everyone  I'd  shown  that  1st  coin 
to  agreed  it  was  Antinous  beyond  doubt,  no  question  about  it.  Comparing 
the  two  coins  there  was  a little  more  hair  detail  on  the  2nd  coin,  but 
unquestionably  the  same  portrait;  and  the  lady  on  the  rev.  was  the  same 
too,  though  from  a different  die.  Then  I could  see  on  the  1st  coin 
that  there  was  a vertical  line  legend  in  front  of  Antinous'  head  also; 
it  was  very  faint,  but  it  was  almost  certainly  KAIEAP ; Antinous  had 
been  called  a lot  of  names,  but  never  Caesar.  So,  with  Antinous  down 
the  tubes,  I had  the  prettiest  portraits  of  young  Marcus  Aurelius  I'd 
ever  seen,  but  I still  didn't  know  where  it  was  from.  As  I said,  the 
reverses  were  weaker  than  the  obverses  on  both  coins,  and  even  using 
both,  it  was  impossible  to  get  even  two  consecutive,  definite  letters. 

So  again.  I'd  have  to  wait  for  a plated  specimen,  the  coin  was  certainly 
unusual  enough;  there  had  to  be  one  somewhere  - but  i f there  was,  I 
never  saw  it.  Then,  early  this  year,  in  a high-quality,  high-price  lot, 
I picked  up  two  specimens  - still  without  ever  having  seen  one  anywhere 
else.  Well,  when  I saw  these  I knew  my  problems  were  over;  one  was  a 
nice,  smooth  Abt.  VF,  and  the  other  was  just  an  absolute  beauty  with  a 
gorgeous  salt  and  pepper  patina.  Well,  to  make  a long  story  short,  it 
wasn't  that  easy;  salt  and  pepper  patina  may  be  mighty  attractive,  but 

246 


it  makes  it  mighty  rough  to  be  sure  of  the  letters  under  it.  No  one 
coin  had  every  letter  anyway,  and  I had  to  use  bits  and  pieces  from 
all  four;  and  when  the  letters  of  a date  are  part  of  an  unbroken  cir- 
cular legend  that  doesn't  begin  at  12  o'clock  (it  starts,  confoundingly , 
at  9 o'clock),  brother,  it  ain't  easy.  So  what  we  have  for  the  reverse 
is  $AAVI0II0AEITWN6T  H=  = 68  = 140/141  AD.  Female  bust  right 
is  wearing  a high  tiara-like  headdress,  and  some  kind  of  robes  with  a 
stiff  collar  that  reaches  way  up  beyond  her  neck,  almost  forming  a 
head-rest.  Apparently  Unpublished  and  far  rarer  than  picking  up  four 
pieces  in  four  years  would  seem  to  indicate  (I  just  may  have  every 
coin  - but  not  very  likely).  The  four  are:  Almost  Fine/VG,  green  pa- 
tina; some  letters  visible  along  edge  from  coin  it  was  struck  over. 

Nice  portrait,  and  the  one  that  most  looks  like  Anti  nous.  In  fact  if 
you  compare  it  with  some  coins  of  Anti  nous,  you  will  find  no  difference 
- none  at  all,  and  perhaps  it  was  done  intentionally.  2nd:  Abt.  VF/ 

Abt.  F,  with  a pretty  good  size  flan  flaw  or  die  break,  but  as  I men- 
tioned it  affects  nothing.  3rd:  Abt.  VF/F,  smooth  tan  patina;  and  4th, 
Choice  VF+/VF,  with  that  rare  and  desireable  salt  and  pepper  patina. 
Really  choice  for  this  rarity. 

********************************************************************* 


TURKEY,  50  AND  100  LIRA  REGULAR  TYPES 


John  DeMaraiSj  Lincoln 3 Nebraska 3 NI  § 1539 

Turkey  has  released  two  more  denominations  in  the  1984  series  of  regular 
types.  The  new  cupro-nickel  50  and  100  lira  coins  are  intended  to  re- 
place banknotes  of  these  denominations.  The  50-lira  coin  is  26mm  in 
diameter  while  the  100-lira  coin  has  a diameter  of  29.5mm.  Both  have 
reeded  edges.  All  coins  of  1984  are  of  the  same  type.  The  obverse 
bears  the  head  of  Ataturk  while  the  reverse  has  the  value  and  date 
within  a wreath.  The  other  three  1984  denominations  were  the  cupro- 
nickel 25  lira  nd  the  aluminum  5 and  10  lira.  In  the  spring  of  1985, 

100  lira  was  worth  about  20  cents  in  U.S.  money. 

******************************************************************** 


THE  FIRST  ROMAN  EMPEROR 


Caius  Octavius  Augustus  was  the  first  Roman 
Emperor.  He  was  the  great-nephew  and  the 
adopted  son  of  the  dictator  Julius  Caesar. 

Augustus  reigned  for  forty  years,  seven  months 
and  three  days.  It  was  suspected  that  his 
wife,  Livia,  poisoned  Augustus  so  that  her 
son  by  a previous  marriage,  Tiberius,  could 
become  the  new  emperor. 


********************************************************************* 


GOLD  COINAGE:  Of  interest  to  numismatists  (in  the  upper  income  brack- 

et!)  is  a recent  fact  announced  at  a meeting  of  the  Gold  Institute  in 
Washington.  Today  some  93  countries  are  using  gold  again  in  their  coin 
age  whereas  in  1970  there  were  only  7. 


247 


A COIN  OF  SMPAD  THE  USURPER 


Robert  R.  Kutoher , Lincoln , Nebraska , NI  #1289 


In  the  medieval  Armenian  coin  series,  there  is  a curious  coin  that  was 
first  jioted  several  years  ago. 

This  silver  tram  is  of  the  Levon 
I two  lion  type,  but  the  coin 
seems  to  have  been  struck  by  the 
usurper  Smpad.  The  obvervse  leg- 
end is  "Levon  King  of  the  Armen- 
ians". In  the  center  of  this 
legend  is  King  Levon  seated  on  a 
throne  ornamented  with  lions.  He 
is  wearing  a crown  and  a royal 
mantle  is  on  his  shoulders.  He  is  holding  a cross  in  his  right  hand  and 
a fleur-de-lis  in  his  left  hand,  and  his  feet  are  resting  on  a footstool. 
This  is  a standard  for  a Levon  I two  lion  type  coin.  The  reverse  legend 
is  "Smpad  King  of  the  Armenians".  In  the  center  of  this  legend  is  a long 
cross  between  two  lions  rampant  regardant.  This  is  also  a standard  for 
the  Levon  I two  lion  type  coin,  except  for  the  legend,  and  the  name  Smpad. 


The  foremost  Armenian  coin  authority  and  historian,  Paul  Z.  Bedoukian, 

Ph.  D.  published  an  article  about  this  curious  coin  in  SELECTED  NUMIS- 
MATIC STUDIES,  1981  (in  Armenian  with  an  English  summary).  Since  this 
article,  two  more  of  these  "Levon-Smpad"  coins  have  turned  up  in  a private 
collection.  In  Dr.  Bedoukian' s opinion,  "The  coin  was  struck  by  Smpad  to 
stress  the  legitimacy  of  his  usurpation  of  the  throne.  It  was  in  effect 
a propaganda  piece."  There  are  also  several  other  more  common  Levon  I i 

two  lion  type  coins  issued  by  Smpad,  but  none  of  them  have  the  name  of  1 

Levon  on  them,  as  these  three  coins  do. 


Levon  (Leo)  I was  the  first  crowned  King  of  Armenia  and  was  crowned  on 
January  6,  1198.  After  his  death  in  1219,  Levon  I was  followed  by  his 
three-old  daughter  Zabel , who  married  Hetoum  I,  and  they  ruled  until 
1270.  It  was  then  that  their  son  Levon  II  became  King.  One  of  the  five^ 
sons  of  Levon  II,  Hetoum  II,  the  elder  son,  became  king  upon  their  father  s 
death  in  February  of  1289.  Hetoum  II's  reign  was  marked  with  troubles 
and  in  1293,  he  turned  the  rule  of  the  country  over  to  his  younger  bro- 
ther, Toros.  In  1296,  Hetoum  II  and  Toros  went  to  Constantinople  to 
visit  their  sister,  Rita,  who  was  the  empress  of  Byzantium.  Taking 
advantage  of  the  king's  absence,  the  next  brother,  Smpad,  declared  him- 
self king. 


Smpad  did  obtain  consent  of  the  populace  and  was  crowned.  Thus  Smpad  was 
kinq  in  1298,  one  hundred  years  after  the  crowning  of  the  first  king, 
Levon  I.  It  seems  that  these  three  "Levon-Smpad'  coins  could  well  be 
commemorative  pieces  of  these  coronations.  The  many  other  Levon  I type 
coins  issued  by  Smpad  without  Levon's  name  it  seems  would  have  been 
enough  to  legitimize  his  claim  to  the  throne.  In  fact,  Dr.  Bedoukian 
states  in  his  Tome  VIII  (1971):  "Perhaps  to  legitimize  his  claim  to 

the  throne,  Smpad  issued  a series  of  coins  reminiscent  of  the  coins  of 
Levon  I."  Then  he  listes  these  three  coins  of  Smpad  without  the  name  o 

Levon. 


I 


Whatever  the  case,  these  three  "Levon-Smpad"  coins  are  certainly  inter- 
esting and  another  mystery  in  the  Cilician  Armenian  history. 

248 


ICONOGRAPHY  OF  ANCIENT 
GREEK  COINAGE 
M A brief  introduction) 

Ian  M.  Patrick  3 Boulder  3 Colorado 3 ANA3  DAWN 3 SAN 

(Reprinted  with  permission  of  the  author  and  Denver  Area  World 
Numismatists 3 January  1985  Bulletin) 

Coins  of  the  ancient  Greeks  are  collected  today  for  a number  of  different 
reasons.  Among  those  many  reasons,  one  of  the  more  interesting  facets 
to  my  mind,  are  the  legends;  both  myth  and  history,  behind  the  symbols 
and  devices  used  to  adorn  thes  pieces  of  metal.  To  illustrate  this  line 
of  thought  I have  chosen  three  examples;  coins  that  are  well  known  to 
most  collectors,  even  if  ancient  Greek  coins  are  not  their  specialty. 


The  Athena/Owl  coinage  of  Athens3  normal  and  enlarged. 

The  first  such  example  is  the  famed  silver  coinage  of  Athens  issued 
during  the  height  of  her  glory.  The  obverse  of  the  coins  exhibit  a 
portrait  of  the  Greek  goddess  Athena  wearing  a crested  helmet.  Accord- 
ing to  legend  Athena  became  the  patron  of  Athens  in  a rather  unusual 
way.  In  the  ancient  past,  it  is  said  that  the  founders  invited  various 
gods  to  participate  in  a contest,  so  one  might  be  chosen  as  their 
patron.  Poseidon  was  first  to  accept  the  invitation  and  proceeded  to 
perform  a marvelous  feat.  Poseidon  struck  a huge  boulder  high  on  the 
acropolis  with  his  trident,  splitting  it  open,  from  which  poured  a 
spring  of  fresh  water.  Athena,  who  had  accepted  the  invitation  to 
participate,  upon  seeing  this,  took  a small  sprig  of  olive  branch  she 
evidently  had  in  her  hair,  and  planted  it  in  the  ground.  Instantly 
the  sprig  grew  into  a beautiful  fruit  bearing  olive  tree.  Because  of 
the  olive's  value  in  the  ancient  world  the  Athenians  believed  this  to 
be  the  most  important  of  the  two,  and  so  asked  Athena  to  be  their  patron 
god.  In  her  portrait  she  wears  a crested  helmet  because  she  was  con- 
sidered the  god  of  defensive  warfare.  Sometime  after  490  BC  a crown  of 
olive  leaves  was  added  to  her  helmet  believed  to  symbolize  Athens  suc- 
cess in  defeating  the  Persian  armies  at  Marathon.  Turning  to  the  re- 
verse of  these  coins  we  find  the  famous  and  appealing  "owl".  Athena 

249 


was  also  considered  by  the  Greeks  to  be  the  god  of  all  knowledge  and 
wisdom.  The  owl  was  her  pet,  which  she  would  set  loose  each  evening 
to  fly  about  the  world,  returning  to  her  with  news  of  what  had  happened 
the  previous  day.  A fairly  imaginative  means  of  data  collection  in  those 

days for  one  who  was  supposed  to  know  all.  Also  to  be  noted  on 

the  reverse  is  the  image  of  an  olive  twig  usually  found  to  the  upper 
left  of  the  owl.  This  presumably  alludes  once  again  to  the  olive  and 
it's  great  economic  importance  to  Athens  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the 
ancient  world.  These  are  but  a few  of  the  several  interpretations  of 
the  symbols  found  on  the  Athens  coinage,  but  they  are  the  ones  I just 
happen  to  like. 


Corinthian  "colt"  silver  stater  (much  enlarged) 


The  next  example  I have  selected  is  the  no-less  famous  Corinthian  "Colts", 
so  named  for  the  image  of  the  legendary  winged-horse  Pegasos  that  ap- 
pears on  the  obverse  of  the  silver  staters  issued  from  Corinth.  Geog- 
raphy in  this  case  has  played  no  small  part  in  the  legends  surrounding 
the  images  we  see  on  these  coins.  The  city-port  of  Corinth  is  situated 
at  the  foot  of  a very  steep  hill  about  2000  feet  high  (the  Acrocorinthus) , 
on  which  is  located  two  fresh-water  springs  or  so-called  fountains. 

Legend  lias  it  that  one  of  these  springs  (the  Hippocrene,  or  Horse  foun- 
tain) was  created  when  Pegasos  struck  a rock  on  this  hill  with  his  hoof 
while  he  had  stopped  for  a drink  from  the  other  spring  (the  Peirene).  The 
rock  was  dislodged  and  another  spring  gushed  forth.  The  legend  most 
probably  came  from  the  fact  that  the  Hippocrene  has  a shape  similar  to 
that  of  a hoof  print.  Be  that  as  it  may,  a consistant  belief  of  every 
Corinthian  in  ancient  Greece  was  that  the  great  winged-horse  was  captured 
on  that  hill  by  their  mythological  hero  Bellerophon.  After  many  ^suc- 
cessful attempts  of  this  hero  to  capture  Pegasos,  he  enlisted  the  ai  o 
Athens,  who  kept  Pegasos  sleeping  beside  her  altar  on  the  hill  while 
Bellerophon  placed  on  his  head  a golden  bridle,  specially  provided  to  hn 
by  the  goddess.  For  her  aid  in  this  feat  she  received  the  honor  of  her 
portrait  gracing  the  reverse  of  the  coins.  Here  we  now  see  her  wearing 
the  ethnic  Corinthian  helmet.  In  Corinth's  later  history  the  city  became 
more  closely  associated  with  the  qoddess  Aphrodite  and  Athen  s importance 
on  Corinth's  coinage  faded  into  obscurity.  The  image  of  Pegasos  however, 
was  to  always  remain  the  important  symbol  found  on  the  obverse  of  these  co 


250 


Silver  coin  of  Rhodes  with  Helios /Rose  (enlarged) 

The  final  example  selected  exhibits  yet  another  facet  found  in  the 
Greek  iconography  found  on  their  coins.  This  is  the  well-known  series 
of  silver  coins  issued  from  the  island  of  Rhodes.  These  coins  exhibit 
on  their  reverse  the  image  of  a rose;  a "pun"  on  the  name  of  the  island. 

The  Greek  word  for  rose  is  rhodos.  The  ancient  Greek's  well  known 
sense  of  humor  was  not  spared  for  the  state  only  it  seems.  As  with  many 
Greek  coins  the  obverse  is  reserved  for  a portrait  of  Rhodes'  patron  god 
Helios  (the  Sun-god).  He  is  usually  shown  in  great  style;  his  hair  flowing 
loosely  in  the  wind  as  he  travels  in  his  chariot  across  the  sky.  After 
^304  BC  he  makes  an  appearance  on  the  coins  with  a radiate-crown  which  is 
^believed  to  have  been  copied  from  the  Colossus  of  Rhodes,  a huge  statue 
^of  Helios,  one  of  the  great  wonders  of  the  ancient  world.  Although  the 
god's  portrait  changed  through  the  years,  the  wonderful  rose  "pun"  re- 
mained on  the  reverse  though  the  centuries.  There  are  many  more  examples 
of  "pun"  devices  to  be  found  on  coins  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  but  those  of 
Rhodes  are  the  least  subtle. 

The  preceeding  has  been  but  an  introduction  to  the  subject  of  ancient  coins 
and  the  iconography  found  on  them.  They  can  tell  us  of  legends,  gods, 
heros,  historic  events,  art,  religion,  economics,  and  the  general  view 
our  ancient  ancestors  had  of  their  world.  The  study  of  their  coins  can  be 
of  endless  fascination  and  we  are  privileged  to  have  access  to  something 
that  can  tell  us  so  much  about  our  world  in  the  past  and  the  people  who 
lived  here. 

************************************************************************ 
ALGERIA,  UNDATED  5 CENTIME  PIECE 


John  DeMarais,  Lincoln 3 Nebraska 3 NI  #1539 

Undated  coins  are  rather  unusual  in  modern  times.  Dates  are  usually 
^included  on  coins  even  if  they  are  frozen.  However,  Algeria  has  is- 
'sured  an  undated  aluminum  5-centime  coin  that  is  quite  similar  to 
those  of  the  1 970 ' s . While  the  previous  peices  bore  curious  double 
dates  (1970-1973,  and  1974-1977),  this  new  coin  has  a Arabic  inscrip- 
tion in  place  of  the  dates.  This  new  coin  was  apparently  released 
during  1984. 


************** ************* ***************** ******** ********** ****** 

251 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  NI  REFERENCE  COLLECTION 


(Members  desiring  to  borrow  coins  from  the  collection  for  research  pur- 
poses, lecture  use,  non-competitive  displays,  or  any  other  reason,  may 
do  so  by  paying  postage  and  insurance  both  directions.) 

Key  to  Listing ; FINE  or  better  for  all  Yeoman  types.  VERY  GOOD  or 
better' Tor  a 1 1 Craig  types.  Underlined  = Uncirculated.  C = Complete. 

C = Complete  with  at  least  one  uncirculated  type.  CX  ( — -)  = Complete 
except  those  listed,  X = Except,  Mints  are  not  listed  unless  multiple 
for  the  particular  year. 

MONACO:  Y8  - C;  Y9  - C;  Y9a  - C;  Y12  - C;  Y13  - 1951;  YA18  - 1965, 
T9SS;  Y 1 8 - 1958;  Y20  - 1962;  Y21  - 1962;  Y22  - C. 


MONGOLIA:  Y8  - C;  Y13  - C;  Y16  - C;  Y17  - C;  Y19  - C;  Y20  - C;  Y22  - 

CV  Y'23  - C;  Y24  - C. 

MONTSERRAT:  Y6  - C. 

MOROCCO:  C30  - C;  Y4  - 1299;  Y5  - 1311;  Y9  - 1313;  Y10  - 1317;  Y15  - 

T^'3';'  Vl 7 - 1320Bh,  1 321  Bh ; Y27  - C;  Y28  - 1330,  1340Py;  Y34  - 1921  ; 

Y35  - ND  w/o  mmk ; Y36  - C;  Y41  - C;  Y43  - C;  Y44  - C;  Y46  - C;  Y47  - C; 

Y48  - C;  Y49  - C;  Y50  - C;  Y51  - C;  Y52  - C;  Y54  - C;  Y55  - C;  Y56  - C; 

Y59  - 1394. 

MOZAMBIQUE:  Y2  - C;  Y4  - C;  Y5  - C;  Y6  - C;  Yll  - C;  Y12  - C;  Y13  - C; 

Y 1 4 - C;  Y 1 6 - 1950;  Y18  - 1957;  Y19  - 1953,  1957,  1963;  Y20  - 1965; 

Y22  - 1952;  Y24  - C;  Y25  - C. 

NEPAL:  YB26  - C;  YA41.1  - 1996;  Y42  - 1992,  1995;  Y45  - 2000;  Y46a  - 

2006;  Y47  - 1997;  Y56  - 2011;  Y57  - 2010;  Y58  - 2012;  Y59  - 2011;  Y61  - 
C;  Y62  - 2013;  Y63  - 2011;  Y64  - 2010;  Y65  - 2014;  Y66  - C;  Y67  - C; 

Y68  - C*  Y69  - C;  Y70  - C;  Y71  - C;  Y72  - C;  Y78  - CX  (2019,  2020); 

Y78a  - C;  Y79  - 2014,  2016,  2018;  Y79a  - 2021;  Y80  - 2015;  Y80b  - 2021; 
Y81b  - 2021;  Y82b  - 2021;  Y82  - 2013,  2014;  Y83b  - 2021  ; Y84c  - 2027T 

Y91  - 2026;  Y93  - 2023;  Y98  - C;  Y101  - 2029;  Y106  - 2030;  Y107  - C; 

Y108  -“7031.; 

NETHERLANDS:  Gelderland  - CA2c  - 1788;  CA2d  - 1788;  Holland  - CC8  - 

1777,  1792;  Utrecht  - CF2  - 1788,  1790;  Zeeland  - CH2  - 1754,  1760; 

CH2b  - 1797.  Kingdom:  Y1  - 1875;  Y2  - 1876;  Y3  - CX  (1883,  1894,  1898); 

Y3b  - C;  Y4  - - 1878 , 1880,  1881,  1882,  1899,  1900;  Y4a  - C;  Y4b  - C; 

Y4c  - 1902;  Y7  - 1877,  1882,  1889;  Y9  - 1861;  Yll  - 1872;  Y21  - 1897; 

Y22  - CX  (1896);  Y34  - 1913,  1914,  1915,  1932;  Y35  - CX  (1915,  1921); 

Y36  - CX  (1914,  1915,  1917,  1918,  1924,  1931);  Y37  - 1915,  1916,  1929, 
1941;  Y39  - 1910,  1914,  1918,  1921;  Y40  - 1916,  1917,  1918,  1919; 

Y43  - 1926,  1927,  1928,  1937,  1939,  1941,  1944P,  1944S;  Y44  - CX  - 

(1940,  1943P , 1945P) ; Y45  - CX  (1928,  1929);  Y46  - 1923,  1929,  1931  , 

1939,  1940;  Y47  - CX  (1932  deep  hair,  1933,  1938,  1938  deep  hair,  1940); 
Y48~-  C;  Y49  - 1941;  Y50  - CX  (1943);  Y51  - C;  Y52  - CX  (1943);  Y53 
thru  Y56  - C;  Y57  - C to  1980;  Y58  - C to  1980  X (1978);  Y59  - C to 
1979;  Y60  C to  1978;  Y61  - C;  Y61 a - C to  1978;  Y62  - C;  Y62a  - C to 
1972,  1979;  Y64  - C;  Y65  - C;  Y68  - l|80. 

NETHERLANDS  ANTILLES  - Curacao:  Y3  thru  Y10  - C;  Y34a  - C;  Y36b  - C; 

Y43a  CV  Y44a  - C. 

NETHERLANDS  ANTILLES:  Y1  - C to  1965  X (1954,  1957);  Y2  - 1956,  1959; 

Y3  - CX  0962,  1967J;  Y4  - C to  1963  X (1957,  1962);  Y5  - 1956,  11963, 
1965;  Y6  - 1952;  Yll  - 1970,  1974;  Y12  - 1970.,  1971. 


252 


BOOK  REVIEWS 

COINAGE  OF  THE  EMIRATES  OF  AIDIN : EMIRATES  OF  THEOLOGUES/ 
EPHESUS.  By  Cuneyt  Olger.  28  pages,  4 plates  containing 
43  coin  photos.  Map  and  genealogical  table.  Stiff  paper 
covers,  6 5/8"  x 9 1/2“.  Published  by  Yenilik  Basimevi, 
(Istanbul,  1985). 

Available  from:  Numismata  Orientalia,  P.O.  Box  212, 

Tenafly,  NJ  07670.  $7-50  postpaid  in  USA. 

This  monograph  (#10  of  the  author's  series  on  the  coinages 
of  the  Ottomans  and  their  predecessors)  deals  with  and 
classifies  the  rare  coins  of  the  Aydino^lu  principality.  A 
brief  history  of  the  period  is  included. 

Aydinoglu  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  beyliks  to  emerge 
following  the  collapse  of  the  Seljuk  Empire  in  Anatolia  and 
maintained  relations  with  the  West  through  economic  and 
political  ties  with  Venice. 

All  coins  photographed  have  also  been  carefully  drawn  for 
study  purposes  and  so  greatly  enhance  the  text  throughout 
this  work.  The  copper  coins  (mangirs)  of  Umur  Beg  (1334  to 
1348)  are  well  covered,  as  are  the  2 types  of  akqes  struck 
by  Isa  Bey  in  his  30  year  reign.  In  addition,  the  few 
remarkable  coins  of  the  Ghazi  Cuneyd  Bey  (the  last  ruler) 
are  discussed. 

This  important  study  constitutes  a definite  contribution  to 
the  documents  of  the  period.  It  is  recommended  reading  for 
collectors  of  Islamic  coins. 

- Reviewed  by  Kenneth  M„  MacKenzie. 

********* 

COINS  OF  BIBLE  DAYS  by  Florence  Aiken  Banks.  Reprint  of  the 
original  1955  edition.  Soft  cover,  6”  x 9".  152  pages  of 

text  and  illustrations.  Introduction/Acknowledgements, 
new  Foreward,  Table  of  Contents,  11  Chapters,  Glossary, 
Bibliography,  Numismatic  Kit,  Index,  new  Selected  Biblio- 
graphy, list  of  Related  Durst  Publications. 

Available  from:  Sanford  J.  Durst,  29-28  4lst  Avenue, 

Long  Island  City,  N.Y.  11101 
$17  postpaid  in  USA. 

This  classic  work  has  long  been  out  of  print  (originally 
published  in  1955)  and.  original  editions  have  been  sold  for 
as  much  as  $45  in  the  past.  This  more  economical  reprint 
is  therefore  particularly  welcome. 

The  book  is  well-written  in  an  interesting  and  easily 
understood  style.  While  it  would  also  be  of  interest  to  a 
more  advanced  collector,  the  presentation  of  the  subject 
is  suchthat  it  would  also  prove  an  excellent  introduction 
to  Biblical  coins  for  the  beginner  in  the  field  or  even  a 
person  with  no  prior  interest  in  numismatics.  Any  terms 
which  might  be  unfamiliar  to  the  reader  are  clearly 
defined  in  a comprehensive  17  page  glossary. 

The  book  starts  with  the  period  before  the  invention  of 


253 


coinage,  briefly  (but  adequately)  traces  their  origins  and 
follows  through  the  Biblical  period  to  the  end  of  Judea 
and  the  beginning  of  Christian  Rome. 

Clear  illustrations  of  coin  types  are  featured  throughout 
the  text  as  they  are  mentioned, with  captions  which  explain 
what  the  coin  is,  when  & where  it  was  struck  and  what  the 
obverse  & reverse  designs  are. 

Perhaps  the  most  significant  attribute  of  the  book  is  that 
it  is  INTERESTING  and  makes  the  coins  come  alive  for  the 
reader.  The  historical,  economic,  political,  social  and 
religious  importance  of  the  coinage  comes  alive  as  the 
reader  is  transported  into  the  past  and  witnesses  the 
events  which  shaped  Biblical  times.  History,  art  and 
romance  come  alive  for  the  reader  and  the  sense  of  holding 
history  in  the  palm  of  your  hand  becomes  very  strong. 

This  is  an  exciting  book  and  as  a person  with  no  prior 
interest  in  Ancient  coins,  I find  it  one  of  the  most 
captivating,  can" t-put-it-down  numismatic  books  I have 
read  for  a long  time.  I believe  you  will  also  enjoy  it. 
The  author  clearly  loves  and  enjoys  the  coins  and  her 
affection  for  them  is  both  clearly  communicated,  and 
infectious.  Durst  has  provided  a valuable  service  to  the 
numismatic  community  by  making  this  wonderful  book  once 
again  available  to  us . 

- Reviewed  by  George  Dunn 
******** 


KLADY  RIMKIX  MONET  NA  TERRITORII  SSSR  by  Vladislav  Vsavo- 
lodoVich  Kropotkin.  Arxeologija  SSSR.  Svod  Arxeologiches- 
kix  Istochnikov.  Vypusk  G4-4.  Izdatel’stvo  Akademii  Nauk 
SSSR.  Moscow  I96I.  Hardcover.  262  x 325  mm.  Total  prin- 
tings 2500.  Cost:  2 'Roubles  = $3- 


Despite  the  publication  date  of  I96I,  it  may  be  of  interest 
to  some  readers  to  know  that  copies  of  this  important  work 
are  still  available.  This  book  is  a catalogue  of  hoards  of 
Roman  coins  found  in  the  Soviet  Union.  . . 

The  contents  are  as  follows:  Preface;  Historical  Survey. 

List  of  Published  Hoards  with  bibliographical  indentations 

as  follows : Russian  Soviet  Federated  Socialist Republic , 

hoards  1 -2  58~  Ukrainian  SSR,"  hoards  259-1337;  MoldayTjn  ^ 

SSR , hoards  1338-1371:  White  Russian  SSR,  hoards  1372-1389; 
Lithuanian  SSR,  hoards  1390-1461;  Latvian_SSR,  hoards  1462- 
16CK:  Estonian  SSR,  hoards  1506-I 527;  Azerbaijan  SSR,  hoards 
1528-1540;  Armenian  SSR,  hoards  1541-1564;  Georgian  SSR, 
hoards  1 565-1673:  Kazax  SSR,  hoards  1674-1675;  Tadzhik  SSR, 
hoard  1676;  Turkmen  SSR,  hoard  1677;  Uzbek,  SSR,  hoards  1678- 
1679;  Central  Asia,  hoards  1680-1684;  Hoards  of  Unknown  Pro- 
venance"! hoards  1685-1733*  ...  T ^ 

This  is  followed  by  a List  of  Abbreviations,  an  Index  of 
Geographical  Names,  an  Author’s  Index  and  the  Table  of  Con- 
tents. There  are _ 36  maps,  qharts , tables  and  plates  01 
which  nos.  3^-36  include  coins. 

- Reviewed  by  Raymond  J.  Hebert 


254 


DARPHANE  MUZESI:  Osmanli  Madeni  Paralari  Katalogu  ("The 
Mint  Museum  Catalogue  of  Ottoman  Coins").  l?8pp  + 12  plates 
with  136  coin  photos.  English  text  summary.  7i"  x 9^". 

Paper  covers.  ( Istanbul ,1985) . 

Available  from*  Numismata  Orientalia,  P.0.  Box  212, 

Tenafly,  N.J.  07670  $18.00 

The  Ottoman  coins  listed  in  this  catalogue  are  the  specimens 
held  in  the  Istanbul  Mint  Museum  (which  moved  to  its  new 
location  in  July  of  1967).  For  over  500  years,  the  national 
mint  has  been  located  in  this  city,  even  after  the  formation 
of  the  Turkish  Republic  (when  the  Capital  was  moved  to 
Ankara) . 

There  are  many  significant  coins  which  are  not  mentioned  in 
the  Yapi  ve  Kredi  Bank  collection  catalogued  by  Nuri  Pere 
(now  out  of  print).  The  collection  includes  many  of  the 
later  coins  listed  by  regnal  years  (or  initial  letters), 
with  all  the  actual  weights  and  measurements  of  the  coins 
(which,  one  must  assume,  were  fine  genuine  specimens  that 
were  deposited  in  the  mint  over  many  years).  The  text  is 
embellished  with  accurate  drawings  of  the  coins  photographed. 
The  reader  will  find  interesting  altuns  struck  in  Amid  under 
Selim  I,  Selim  II,  Murad  III,  Mehmed  III,  Ahmed  I and  in 
Algiers  (West)  under  Ahmed  II,  as  well  as  the  rare  "dort 
findik"  struck  in  Egypt  in  the  reign  of  Ahmed  III.  There 
are  akqes  from  Bursa  (Cem  Sultan),  Chanicha  (under  Mehmed 
III,  Ahmed  I,  Osman  II  and  Murad  IV)  and  from  Damascus  under 
Mehmed  IV  among  the  1,580  gold,  2,073  silver,  273  copper  and 
56  nickel  coins  listed  from  66  mints  in  the  Empire. 

This  new  catalogue  is  a necessary  reference  work  for  students 
and  collectors  of  Ottoman  coins.  It  should  also  be  of  inter- 
est to  dealers  and  collectors  of  Islamic  coins  and  find  a 
place  in  important  numismatic  reference  libraries. 

The  foreward  is  by  Salih  Yardimiq  ( the  _General  Manager  of 
the  Directorate  of  the  Mint).  Cuneyt  Olqer  has  provided  us 
with  an  expert's  catalogue  of  a little  known  and  prestigious 
collection. 

- Reviewed  by  Kenneth  M.  MacKenzie 

***** 

Tat ' j ana  Davydovna  Zlatkovskaja.  V0ZNIKN0V  ENIE  GOSUDARSTVA 
U FRAKIITSEV  VII- V w.do  n.e.  Izdatel'stvo  "Nauka" . 

Moscow,  1971.  Softcover.  211  x 172  mm.  Total  printing  of 
2,300.  Cost  1 Rouble  & 64  Kopeks  ($2.25).  268pp. 

This  is  a glossy  little  book  on  the  origins  of  the  state  of 
Thrace  of  the  7th  to  5"th  centuries  B.C.  Plates  1-4  and  11- 
12  illustrate  the  coins. 

Contents  are  as  follows:  Introduction  (pps.  5-29);  Economic 
Development  of  Thrace  (pps.  30-81);  Industrial  & Social  Re- 
lations (pps.  82-177);  Political  Organization  (pps.  178-254) ; 
Index  of  Names  (pps.  257-260) ; Index  of  Geographic  and  Ethnic 
Names  (pps.  261-265)  and  Table  of  Contents  (pps.  266-267). 

The  book  is  interesting  as  a look  at  one  historical  inter- 
pretation of  the  ancient  world. 

- Reviewed  by  Raymond  J.  Hebert. 

255 


MEMBER  NOTICE  PAGE 

David  B.  Fiero,  Maierhoferstr . 3,  8400  Regensburg,  West  Germany:  I am 

presently  attempting  to  gather  information  on  the  minting  process  used 
on  the  one-half  mark  coins  of  the  German  Empire  during  the  First  World 
War  years  of  1917-1919,  when  these  pieces  were  often  darkened  by  the 
mints  in  an  attempt  to  discourage  hoarding  by  the  public  of  silver 
coins.  Standard  references  tend  to  give  conflicting  information  on 
this  topic,  and  so  if  anyone  possessing  such  coins  could  state  which 
years  and  mintmarks  they  have,  as  well  as  the  proportion  of  darkened 
to  normal  "silvery"  pieces,  I would  be  most  grateful  and  will  attempt 
to  summarize  my  findings  in  a future  article;  along  with  any  historic- 
al background  information  I am  able  to  find.  AV1_  correspondence  on 
this  topic  is  welcomed,  any  information  I have  or  find  will  be  gladly 
shared  with  any  interested  parties. 

Mark  Terpin,  162  Fifth  St.,  Apt.  2L,  Cambridge,  Mass.  02141:  I'd  like 
to  thank  the  German  numismatists  who  responded  to  my  plea  (on  the  March 
1985  Member  Notice  Page)  for  the  translation  of  "NIMANTKANZEWHERNDIN" 
from  a circa  1600  Nuremburg  gaming  token  by  Hans  Laufer.  The  trans- 
lation is  most  probably  "Nobody  can  serve  two  masters",  from  the  New 
Testament,  which  in  modern  German  would  be  "Niemand  kann  zwei  Herren 
dienan".  I have  a couple  other  tokens  that  are  similar,  but  with  dif- 
ferent inscriptions  (one  has  "RAT  WER  G0TT  VERTRAUT" , translation  "He 
who  trusts  in  God  is  well  advised",  and  the  other  "HEITT  ROT  MORGEN  TOT", 
translation  "Today  red,  tomorrow  dead");  does  anyone  know  of  a reference 
book  that  lists  the  inscriptions  found  on  Nuremburg  tokens  such  as 
these?  And  if  anyone  has  Nuremburg  tokens  in  their  collection  with 
different  inscriptions,  I'd  appreciate  the  information. 

John  L.  Pieratt,  2635  5.  Hydraulic,  32C,  Wichita,  KS  67216:  Need  in- 

formation on  unlisted  Cambodia  KM36  & KM37  1847  Tical  with  incuse  sun 
above  towers,,  1847  with  Chinese  chops. 

ATTRIBUTION  SERVICE:  The  NI  Attribution  Committee  will  accept  from  NI 

members  only,  any  numismatic  items,  whether  paper,  metal,  or  whatever, 
for  attribution.  We  must  limit  the  items  to  a TOTAL  OF  SIX  (6)  MAXIMUM. 
The  cost  is  just  advance  payment  of  return  postage,  including  sufficient 
for  insurance  or  registration,  if  desired.  Send  to  NI  Attribution  Com- 
mittee, P.  0.  Box  2057,  Saugatuck  Station,  Westport,  Conn.  06880,  USA. 

***★★*★*****★★★******★**★★★**★★★**+*★★*★***★***★★*****★★★★**★****★*★★* 


FROM  THE  MAILBOX 


Member  plugs  use  of  NI  Attribution  Committee 


I wish  to  second  the  several  complimentary  letters  you  have  received 
praising  the  NI  Attribution  Committee.  They  have  pulled  rabbits  out 
of  hats  on  some 


of  the  items  I have  sent  them.  A fine  service! 


G.  N.  Robbins 

La  Pocatiere,  Quebec,  Canada 


256